Lilycove Tournament: And the Battle Begins!
by Kyuuketsuki Fang
Summary: Welcome to the place where a series of twists and challenges lay behind the doors. Welcome to tests of power, skill, and worth. Welcome to dark secrets, and sinister plots. Welcome to the Lilycove Tournament. Not your normal tournament fic.
1. The Beginning of the End

Night is the time for secrecy, when all the lights are out and everyone is asleep. When everything is cloaked in a hidden darkness, and veiled by frozen shadows. At the darkest hours, this is when everything happens.

When everything _important _happens.

He stood on top of the lighthouse, staring off into the distant horizon. The cold, night breezes whipped around him, tousling dark brown hair. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his thick coat, which hung to his knees.

The stars shone on him, and but the moon didn't glow in its majestic glory. A new moon. Perfect.

He turned towards the city, and smiled down at the dark streets and alleys. A lady taking an evening stroll. A barking dog, begging for scraps. Teenage gangsters, sending columns of smoke in the air from sparking cigarettes. Kids going out to spend their night, sneaking out of houses.

It was cute, how they were so ignorant. Unaware of what was to come. No, no one was prepared for what was to come. No one but him.

Waves splashed against the shore, and he envisioned Lilycove flooded with the dark waters. Fear, and anger, perhaps even hope. False hope.

A storm was coming, it was inevitable. This was only the beginning of a new era, and the end of an old one.

He looked around, watching for witnesses, before whistling out to the sky. A shrill, sharp sound pierced the thick air, screaming for attention. A light flickered on in a house, and he froze. Time seemed to stop.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?"

He didn't answer, instead focusing his deep, dark eyes towards the heavens above, until the light disappeared, and the night resumed.

Something descended, perching herself daintily on his shoulder. A Noctowl.

"Here," he said gruffly, his voice muffled and hushed. The owl gave a deep rumbling sound, before taking off; a sign of blatant affection.

He watched her fly away until she was nothing more than a dot above the silent waves, before turning to lay his eyes on the city.

That letter was only the first of them. The first of a million.

Trainers would flock to Lilycove, intent on being the best. But only one would win. And that one was him.

Tomorrow, he decided.

Tomorrow would mark the beginning of the end.

**The first of the reconstructed chapters. This fic now has a prologue. :D**


	2. Trainer Daze

Zailia Kage growled, her fist clenched around the letter in her hand, wrinkling its delicate paper. The crackling, crumbling sound soothed her a bit.

Served it right.

What kind of idiot invited someone to a tournament, and never told her where the tournament was?

She had been wandering aimlessly for the last couple of hours or so, looking around. It wouldn't have been that bad, if there had been a yellow banner strewn across a building announcing, 'Welcome to the Lilycove Tournament!'

But no such luck. Without a banner, Zailia was completely lost in the huge city. She could only see busy civilians, rushing past with their daily chores and duties, and rows of dull, gray buildings.

They weren't all boring skyscrapers. The Lilycove Department Store was actually brightly colored, but it only annoyed Zailia even more as she walked past it for the seventh time that hour.

"What is _up_ with this place?!" Zailia snarled, kicking at a random chair at a nearby restaurant. She succeeded not only in stubbing her toe on the metal leg, but also in tripping over it and landing on her face.

"Do you," a voice began uncertainly, "need help?"

Zailia froze for half a second, before shooting up to her feet and whirling to glare at whoever had spoken.

"That did not happen."

The girl was older than her, around 18, with long brown hair and eyes. She looked startled, and a bit intimidated by the ferocious, murderous expression Zailia was sure she wore.

"Okay," the girl squeaked. Zailia glared at her, just in case, before stalking away.

Much to the Zailia's annoyance, the brown-haired girl ran after her, grabbing her shoulder, "Wait, my name's Alessandra Cesarini. Call me Alex."

"Zailia," the dark-haired girl replied grudgingly.

"Where do you want to go? You looked lost," Alex said lightly, giggling a bit.

Zailia flushed, but she yanked away from Alex before the older girl saw, "Of course not. It's not my fault this stupid piece of paper never told me where the tournament was."

"Oh!" Alex smiled, "You're in the Lilycove Tournament? Me, too! You have any idea where it is?"

Zailia could have snarled. If she wasn't lost and alone, she was lost and constantly annoyed by some random other girl. Just, she concluded sarcastically, great.

XXX

"Nikki Vazquez—you are Nikki Vazquez, aren't you? You defeated the Kanto League? How did that feel? Any thoughts you'd like to sha-?"

Nikki shoved the reporter away as she tried to gain entrance to the Contest Hall.

"I don't have time for this," she interrupted, looking for an alternate route through, "If you'll excuse me, I don't like wasting my time."

She rudely stepped past him, hoping to get the message across clearly. The reporter, much to her dismay, was much more persistent than any reporter should be allowed to be.

"Don't worry! The name's Matt. Don't forget it, 'cuz you'll be seeing more of me!" he yelled as he ran off, undoubtedly to harass other famous trainers. These tournaments always seemed to be full of them.

"Lilycove Tournament? I'll need your trainer's ID and the invitation you received, please," the receptionist smiled warmly, tapping her painted nails on reception desk.

Nikki nodded, pulling out the letter and her trainer's card, and slid them across the counter.

"Nikki Vazquez. Age 15. Female. From Pallet Town, Kanto," the computer said as the receptionist scanned Nikki's ID. She scrawled a curly signature on the invitation, before handing both of them back to Nikki.

"And this too," the receptionist held out a small guidebook, "It's a rule book. Use it to help train. You'll need to."

Nikki accepted it, and turned to the lobby. She skimmed the first couple of pages, before skipping to the page concerning the stages of the competition.

_The stages in the Lilycove Tournament are the preliminaries, the double battle, and the sudden death rounds._

_In the preliminaries, each trainer can use 3 Pokemon. You win when you can knock out the opponents three Pokemon._

_The double battle stage is when you have to get serious. It is, in fact, not just a double battle. In a tag battle, you must defeat one of the other team's Pokemon before they can get one of yours. Your partner will be chosen randomly._

_If you pass the first two tests, you enter the real contest. In a one-on-one sudden death battle, you must kill or be killed (not literally, of course). In this quick series of fights, you must win every battle to get to the top._

_And the last stage is by no doubt the hardest. Only four trainers can get to this stage. These four trainers will enter a maze at the exact same time. They must find each other and defeat the other three trainers. There are certain obstacles in the maze, however. If you lose to one of these, you will be eliminated._

Nikki looked up from the rulebook, and surveyed the trainers around her. There was a couple of girls in the corner, gossiping and giggling over a magazine that she couldn't see at her position. A group of boys sat around the TV, cheering loudly as they watched the battle that was being played live.

She shook her head. They wouldn't do. They seemed to be weak.

A dark haired boy caught her attention, and she looked over at him. He seemed a bit younger than her, but almost as determined. He radiated a softer aura, though, that was slightly snobby. He knelt down and was tending to a beautiful Milotic.

"You! Fight me in a sudden death battle!" Ari heard a girl command him.

"Hm?" The lavender-eyed boy looked up, startled.

"You heard me. You probably need the training too. You don't look that ready for this."

So this girl had never been in a sudden death battle? Ari sighed. Well, she was right. He did need the practice.

"Very well. Let's take this outside. We will need a referee."

Nikki nodded solemnly, as an idea entered her head. She didn't like it, but she would do even this in order to win.

"I'll take care of it," she sighed reluctantly.

"My name's Ari Harper," Ari said, peering at her oddly. Nikki ignored this, brushing past the boy and out the door. As she had expected, Matt was still there, now fussing over a gray-eyed girl.

"Miss Kage, why don't you share a tale of your glorious adventure of old with us—?" His outburst was interrupted by Nikki kicking him in the back of the leg, forcing him to fall.

"Ow, Nikki Vazquez!" The reporter didn't stay in a state of pain for long. He jumped to his feet, pressing his hands in a thanking gesture, "Did you change your mind about that interview?"

Nikki scowled. For some reason, he never failed to put her in a bad mood. "Never. I want you to referee our sudden death battle."

She gestured at herself, and Ari.

At the word 'battle,' many other trainers perked up and stared at them, intrigued.

Sighing, Matt agreed, "Fine, fine."

The two trainers wordlessly took their places.

"Alright. This is a sudden death battle between Nikki Vazquez of Pallet Town and Ari Harper of Fortree! You may use one Pokemon, and one Pokemon only! Begin!"

"Togetic!" Ari made the first move and threw a shiny red Pokeball into the air.

"Toge!" the Happiness Pokemon cried out before taking a battle position.

"Ashes! Go!" A deafening roar shook the trees and red flames shot out of the Pokeball. The Charizard roared again, flapping its wings to create a gust while Togetic struggled to remain airborne.

"Rain Dance, Togetic!" Eager to comply, Ari's Pokemon called on dark storm clouds. The clear skies were overcome by rain. The many trainers watching the battle scattered in the search for shelter.

"Thunder Punch it," Nikki commanded her Charizard.

Crackling electricity formed in the fire lizard's fist. Determined to win, Ashes shot towards Togetic, fist extended.

"Sweet Kiss," Ari said simply.

Ashes stopped in its tracks as a ball of affection hit him. Confused, it turned towards its trainer, cocking its head to the side.

"Thunder Punch, Ashes!"

Ashes turned back to its opponent and stared.

"Thunder, Togetic!" Ari shouted victoriously.

The storm clouds above cackled with electricity. A sudden bolt of lightning zapped towards the unexpecting Charizard.

"Dodge it, Ashes! Remember how you don't like to lose! Remember how you worked so hard to evolve! Please snap out of it!" Nikki shouted frantically at her Pokemon.

As if her voice had finally penetrated the Charizard's mind, Ashes looked around and caught the Thunder with a Shadow Claw.

"Let it rip, Ashes!" Nikki told her Pokemon. Water ran down her cheeks, but whether it was rain or tears of relief, she could not tell. The battle would continue.

The Charizard's fist collided with Togetic's skull, the eerie crackling of thunder reverberating throughout the battlefield.

The Togetic let out a pitiful cry, faltering yet managing to stay upright. Ari let out the breath he wasn't aware he had been holding.

"Okay, Thunder Wave!" he shouted, hoping for the best, and placing the battle in luck's hands.

"Smokescreen, Ashes!" Nikki countered.

A cloud of thick, black smog oozed out of the Charizard's maw, blinding both the battler's, and their trainers.

Ari winced, shielding his face with a sleeve and using the other to wave the smoke away in a lame attempt to see the battle. It was a moment of uncertainty. Would the attack hit?

Something sparked, making both trainers' hair rise.

"Ashes! Can you hear me? Ashes! Flap your wings to blow the smoke away!" Wasn't it ironic? Her defensive move was being used against her, and she was the one who would blow it away.

The dark smog stirred, before rising altogether. The rain had apparently spread the Thunder Wave around, sparking about everything. The Charizard was struggling, but his fist was clenched around the Togetic's face.

"T-togeee!"

The Charizard winced, tightening his grip to avoid letting go.

"Togetic, try an Aura Sphere!"

The attack blew up in Charizard's face, and the flying lizard darted away, roaring ferociously. Needless to say, the crowd had long since dispersed in fear of their lives.

"Focus Blast, Ashes!"

Panicking, Ari shouted from the top of his head, "Last Resort!"

A powerful blast shot out of the Charizard's hands, and Togetic charged straight through it. Upon impact, the small Pokemon faltered, but continued her rampage through the beam.

And promptly collided with the lizard.

Both Pokemon spiraled down towards the ground, sending up a spray of dust as the hit it.

The tension was thick; both trainers made eye contact while they waited for the results. A minute passed, perhaps two.

A well-timed stray breeze hit, and a figure emerged from the dust. With powerful wings extended, and a broad back arched, Ashes blinked uncertainly at the limp figure at his feet.

He had finally won.

XXX

"This battle is between Alessandra Cesarini of Twinleaf Town and Zailia Kage of Pallet! Each trainer is allowed one Pokemon! Begin!" A blonde-haired 18 year old male announced.

"Alright! Water!" Alex yelled enthusiastically, grabbing a Pokeball off her belt and tossing it in the air.

A Floatzel emerged from the airborne Pokeball. Water bared its fangs at Zailia.

"Floatzel!" it yelled eagerly.

"Shadow, go," Zailia commanded indifferently. An Absol appeared in front of her. With a deep breath, like it was superior to the Floatzel, it took its precious time entering the battlefield.

Alex stared incredulously at the Disaster Pokemon. It was exactly like its trainer!

"Um, Aqua Jet, Water," she told her Floatzel uncertainly.

As Water sped off towards its nonchalant opponent, Zailia called out, "Counter it with Me First."

Before Alex could blink, the Floatzel was sent flying by the Absol's own Aqua Jet. Shaking, Water screamed in frustration before attacking, even though Alex had not said anything.

Speechless, Alessandra could only watch as Water sent several Ice Beams in Shadow's direction. The attacks were useless against the Absol's detect, though.

"Stop, Water! Use Hydro Pump," Alex tried desperately to regain control. She was relieved when her Floatzel shot a powerful jet of water at Shadow.

"Sucker Punch," Zailia said.

Just before Shadow was thrown back by Hydro Pump's power, Floatzel was hit by an attack just as strong. Water shook it off, shaking with rage. It needed to defeat this one, and show it who was _really_ stronger.

"Night Slash, Shadow."

The Absol charged at Water, until a huge tidal wave crashed into it and submerged the entire area in deep sea water.

"No! Water, come back here!" Alex screamed as the wave engulfed her and Zailia.

She grabbed on to her Pokemon's back and looked around frantically for her opponent.

"Up here," a familiar cold voice said.

Alex looked up and saw the blue-haired girl. She sighed in relief as she noticed the Metagross Zailia had been rescued by.

"Yours?" she asked wearily.

"Mine," a tall boy that Alex hadn't noticed corrected. He had black hair in a ponytail. The tips of his hair was dyed red and white. As the rough waves settled down and sunk into the damp ground, Metagross landed and allowed Zailia to jump off.

"Water, never do that without my permission," Alex scolded her Floatzel. The Sea Weasel looked down at its feet in shame.

"Float...zel..."

"Zailia, do you want to fini-" Alex cut herself off when she looked up and saw that she was alone, "I guess not."

Walking towards the Pokemon Center, Alex realized that she had not asked for the Metagross trainer's name.

**Nothing much. I'm mostly combining chapters here. Which is why I call it reconstruction.**

**Credits**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Nikki- Fire Drastar**

**Ari- Serpent's Ballet**


	3. Familiar Face

A white-haired trainer surveyed the stadium.

It was large enough for Pokemon to move around freely, but small, so that the audience could see the whole arena.

Eyes on the stadium, he walked to his right, as the walkway circled around the battlefield. However, he was not watching where he was going and crashed into a girl.

Startled, he whirled around to face her.

"Um, hi? Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and, um, I'm really sorry," the girl stammered, "Er, my name is Lindsay."

"Kiriel. It's fine. I wasn't watching either," Kiriel said.

Lindsay had dark blonde hair that reached the middle of her back. Her bangs only reached her chin, and framed her face.

Deciding that she wasn't worth his time, Kiriel walked past her and continued his inspection of the arena.

"Wait!" Lindsay shouted after him without thinking. The white-haired boy paused before slightly turning his head, waiting for her to speak.

"Um, do you want to battle?" Lindsay thought quickly. Then she mentally kicked herself. What had she been thinking, challenging this random trainer, "Like, to train for the competition...?"

Kiriel looked thoughtful, or he would have, if he had let himself. He shrugged, deciding to defeat her quickly, "Why not?"

XXX

Zirienji Axhedron collapsed into one of the lounge chairs in the Contest Hall, rule book in hand. He had just come from the Johto region and was very excited to see the different variety of Pokemon in a different region. Unfortunately for him, he had to read the rules first.

Normally, Ziri was very gifted in academics, but he had not traveled all this way for a book.

"Let's skip this and meet new trainers to battle, eh?" he murmured to his Typhlosion's Pokeball.

"You should read that. It might do you some good," a black-haired boy called over to him from his spot near a window.

"Huh? Who are you?" that was the only intelligent phrase Ziri could come up with, in his surprise.

"Name's Riley," he tossed over his shoulder. Currently, his attention was fixed on some commotion outside.

Curious, Ziri peeked out the window, too, and jumped back after a wave of water crashed into the pane of glass. Unfortunately, he stumbled backwards, crashing into the table and knocking over a vase of flowers.

The thud that Ziri made added to the sound of glass shattering attracted quite a number of odd looks. Rubbing the back of his neck in apology, Ziri began to pick up the mess.

"I'll be going outside, now," he said quietly as he tossed the remains of the roses into the trash.

"There's no outside to go to," Riley announced. True to his words, the earth outside of the building had been devastated by a powerful surf attack.

"Never mind," Ziri muttered to himself. Then he asked in a louder voice, "So we're stuck in here until the ground dries?"

"Not necessarily," Riley said, "Only if you don't have a flying type. And you can go if you don't mind being a swamp monster."

He flashed Ziri a small smile. A ghost smile, Ziri decided, as it gave him chills.

XXX

"Mira, don't let me down!" Kiriel told his Pokemon as it appeared in the stadium.

"Gardevoir," Mira said, its eyes on Lindsay.

Dazed at the sudden turn of events, Lindsay managed to grab a Pokemon, "Luxray, help me out!"

A Luxray popped out of the Pokeball and growled at Mira, sparks shooting from its fur.

"Psychic, try and finish this quickly," Kiriel called to the Gardevoir.

"Garde...voir!" Luxray struggled to escape the Psychic attack, but managed to succeed in only waving around frantically in mid-air.

"Charge Beam, Luxray. Distract it!" Lindsay commanded. The lion-like Pokemon opened its mouth to shoot out an electrical beam.

It hit Mira straight on, as the Gardevoir was concentrating on keeping the Psychic attack. Before it was hit, though, Mira managed to throw Luxray at a wall. Both Pokemon were forced backwards.

"Use Hypnosis, Mira!" Kiriel told his Pokemon, but frowned when the Gardevoir didn't obey. It seemed to be struggling against some force; it was trembling with effort.

"The Charge Beam paralyzed it," Lindsay informed him, "Thunder Fang, Luxray."

Unfortunately, Luxray seemed to be in a similar condition. It could only manage a snarl at the Gardevoir.

Kiriel couldn't help but smirk at the blonde girl, "Looks like Synchronize worked. Mira's paralyzed, so your Luxray is, too."

Lindsay gritted her teeth, "Luxray, try a Spark."

Only through a burst of sheer determination was Luxray able to launch itself at Gardevoir. A layer of thick electricity covered its body as Luxray collided with Mira, who gave a shrill cry of pain.

They both collapsed in exhaustion, Luxray on top of Mira.

"Luxray!" Lindsay cried out in shock, before racing to her Pokemon. Kiriel did the same, albeit wordlessly.

Silently, they recalled their Pokemon. Kiriel turned and left as soon as Mira was safe in its Pokeball. Lindsay could only stare at his back as he exited.

XXX

Zirienji stared at his mud covered cargo pants and grimaced. The ground was far squishier than he had expected. Ziri's original intention was to head outside and find a trainer to train against. However, his objective had recently changed. Now, all he wanted to do was reach a Pokemon Center and take a bath.

Reaching his destination a bit late, as he accidently dropped one of his Pokeballs and had to spend 10 minutes looking for it, his muddy state attracted a lot of attention as he forced his heavy legs to walk up to Nurse Joy.

"I'd like a room with one bed and a shower, please," he muttered to the nurse.

"I can see that," Joy laughed, both lightly and nervously, as if being careful not to upset the young trainer, "Room 303. Have a nice night."

Nodding, Ziri climbed up the stairs and towards his room, not stopping until he reached the bed.

Collapsing into it, he called out his Ambipom.

"Bibibi," she chattered excitedly as she saw her trainer.

Ziri sighed, "I wanted to train for the competition, but I guess we will just have to study strategies."

As if understanding him, Ambipom leapt on to Ziri's shoulders and wrapped herself around his neck.

With one last smile, Ziri turned towards the shower, intending to spend a very long time in there.

XXX

Raylight strode out of the Department Store and surveyed the Surf's damage. Practically all of Lower Lilycove had been reduced to a marsh. He could faintly make out trainers trying to cross the swamp by foot, and held back a bitter laugh.

Didn't they have flying types to carry them? He had gotten his Flygon to carry him to safety.

"You," Raylight was startled by a quiet voice behind him. He whirled around and locked eyes with a black haired girl, "You were watching that battle from the Contest Hall's roof."

Raylight stared at her with wide eyes. He had been spotted?

Trying to hide his shock, he allowed a small smile to occupy his face, "You saw me? Then you must have sharp eyes. Would you battle me then?"

Nikki raised an eyebrow, "Gladly. A one-on-one sudden death battle?"

Raylight nodded, the remains of the smile left his lips. This girl knew what she wanted and how to get it.

"I will use my Nidoking," Nikki informed him. It was almost as if she thought she was better than him, and should give him the upper hand.

Anger sparked in Raylight's mind. He would show her who was stronger. He was not here for nothing, after all. Zero's death would have meaning.

"Fine. I'll use my Lucario."

The only thing I have left of Zero, he added silently.

As soon as the words left Raylight's mouth, the Aura Pokemon revealed itself from the shadows.

Nikki smiled slightly at the Lucario. This might be interesting, she decided.

"Odin, take your place!" A Nidoking materialized beside her, staring down at its smaller opponent. A snarl formed on Lucario's lips.

"Let's start this with Extremespeed! Then, Force Palm!" Raylight took the first move.

"Megahorn, Odin," Nikki countered.

The force of the Nidoking's head slamming against Lucario's palm was strong enough to throw both of them back. However, they both seemed unfazed by the collision, and got up quickly.

"Earthpower!" Nikki said, not waiting for Raylight to attack.

Bits of the ground rose and shot off towards Lucario like bullets.

"Quickly, Close Combat!" Raylight gritted his teeth as he waited for the oncoming attack.

After being knocked around some, Lucario managed to get a decent kick at a boulder, shattering it upon contact.

As the dust fell on the ground, Lucario whipped around to deliver a quick punch to another earth bullet. Only when he had reduced the Earth Power to rubble incapable of harming a Magikarp, did he stop to look at his opponent.

Odin seemed to sneer at Lucario. It was the type of expression that said, 'I'm better than you. You are weak.'

The Lucario's blood boiled. It tensed and was shaking with uncontrollable anger. Its trainer saw that and used it to his advantage.

"Aura Sphere! And then use Metal Claw!"

The Aura Pokemon launched its Aura Sphere and shot it towards Odin with a hardened claw, doubling the power.

Roaring, the Nidoking toppled over backwards.

"Dragon Pulse, Odin," Nikki told her weakened Pokemon. The Nidoking struggled to call up the power to obey, but managed to shoot a dangerous beam at Lucario.

"Extremespeed, and then Close Combat!" Raylight commanded his Lucario.

Obeying, Lucario appeared behind Odin and proceeded to pound the Nidoking with several strong punches.

"Don't let it win; use Mega Horn," Nikki ordered.

Odin lashed out with its horn, but not before the Lucario struck it with a blow to the face. Flailing wildly, the Nidoking collapsed before its worried trainer.

Smiling grimly, Raylight left the scene. Lucario disappeared once more, presumably into the shadows again.

XXX

As the crowd dispersed, a certain brown-haired girl eyed Nikki with interest before leaving. Maybe she had gotten far.

XXX

Cradling Odin's Pokeball to comfort the Pokemon, Nikki looked up in time to see a swish of familiar brown hair.

Disbelievingly, she called out a name, but the girl did not answer.

Sighing in frustration, Nikki got up without brushing herself off and ran towards the building her rival had disappeared into.

**Nothing much different. I just switched some scenes around.**

**Credits**

**Kiriel- Kap487**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Nikki- Fire Drastar**

**Riley- Mewk**


	4. Preliminary Rounds

**I've forgotten to do a disclaimer so far...Don't hurt me!**

**Disclaimer: I, in no way, own Pokemon. I also do not own the various OCs that are spotted throughout the story. I do, however, own the reporter Matt, the Lilycove Tournament, this fic, the plotline, and all that happy stuff.**

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the famed Lilycove Tournament, held only once every 50 years!" A loud voice boomed into the intercom, "Today signals the start of the contest preliminaries. Each trainer may use 3 Pokemon, and 3 Pokemon only. The battle is over once you knock out the opponents 3 Pokemon. Now I introduce our first contestants. Please welcome Markus Pearl and Kane Yaiba to the stage!"

Two trainers walked out into the stadium as the audience exploded into applause. They each took a single bow, before taking their places at opposite sides of the field.

"You may begin!" the announcer called.

"Go, Rex!" the blonde haired trainer, Markus, yelled, throwing a Pokeball on to the field.

"Arc! Arca!" the Arcanine barked loudly, enjoying the attention and screams of encouragement from the crowd.

"Then, Empoleon! You're up!"

The metal penguin materialized on the stage and shot a jet of water into the air.

"Flamewheel, Rex," Markus commanded.

Flames shot out of the Arcanine's fur as it gave a deafening battle cry. Charging towards Empoleon, Arcanine leapt into a series of somersaults, gaining speed by the second.

Kane thought quickly, "Use Strength!"

Empoleon grabbed the sides of the wheel, ignoring the flames as they brushed against his flesh. With tremendous effort, the Empoleon managed to lift the canine up into the air and threw it against the other wall.

Dazed, Rex waited for his trainer to give a command.

"Quick Attack."

Instantly, the Arcanine took off, intent on ramming into the penguin with all its might.

"Empoleon, wait and use Metal Claw!"

Rex ignored the sharp pain to its side as the Metal Claw hit it, instead focusing on trampling the opponent.

After he had sent Empoleon flying, Rex looked up to snarl at the wincing penguin. The Empoleon clutched its hand in pain. The Flamewheel had burned it.

"Empoleon!" Kane yelled, worried.

Smirking, Markus told his Pokemon, "Flamethrower. Give it something worse than a burn."

"Hydro Pump!"

The long stream of flames that had shot out from Rex's maw was stopped by Empoleon's jet of water. Fighting for control, the collision caused a thick cloud of steam to surround the Pokemon.

"Dig, Rex! Get out of there!" Markus directed his Arcanine, squinting to see it.

"Bide, then!"

The color drained from the blonde trainer's face. He tried to fix his mistake quickly, "N-no! Arcanine! Get back to the surface! Get away from Empoleon!"

However, by then it was too late. Arcanine popped up from the ground and attacked the metal penguin.

Crying out in pain and fury, Empoleon unleashed its Bide and sent the canine Pokemon across the room to land in a heap at Markus's feet.

"Arcanine is unable to battle! Empoleon is the winner," the announcer informed the crowd, who erupted into cheers and whistles.

Pursing his lips, Markus returned the fainted Arcanine and called out his second Pokemon, "I choose Sparky! Volt Tackle!"

The Electabuzz flew out of its Pokeball and crashed into Empoleon before the penguin could react and leaving sparks in its wake. Without knowing what had hit it, Empoleon was thrown back and efficiently knocked out.

"Empoleon is unable to battle! Electabuzz wins!"

The crowd cheered again, as Kane recalled Empoleon.

"Scizor!" The red bug type appeared on the stadium, ready to fight.

"Let's finish this quickly, Sparky. Use Thunder Bolt!" Markus commanded.

The electric type was eager to obey and stray lightning bolts shot out of its fur as Sparky launched the powerful attack at Scizor.

"Get close with Agility and ram it with Iron Head," Kane instructed smoothly.

The red bug dodged the Thunder Bolt with amazing speed and reappeared in front of the Electabuzz. Slamming its hardened skull into its opponent's face, Scizor leapt backwards to dodge Sparky's involuntary lunge.

"Iron Tail, Sparky!"

"Use Night Slash!"

Time seemed to slow as the two Pokemon raced towards each other, intent on being the last one standing.

XXX

Nikki sighed as she watched the battle on TV. She had failed in finding the girl she had seen.

"You seemed depressed," someone commented to her right. Looking over, Nikki saw a black-haired male.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie. I swear, you've sighed eight times in the past five minutes."

Trying to hide her blush, Nikki looked away, "And who are you?"

"Riley Hart."

"Nikki Vazquez."

An awkward silence settled in between them, and the two trainers turned their attention back to the TV just in time to watch Empoleon defeat the Arcanine.

"...What were you moping about?" Riley spoke first, for his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Hm?" Nikki looked at him, startled. She did _not_ mope.

"Excuse me?"

"Why were you sighing?"

"Nothing. I just saw someone I thought I knew. Never did find out, though," Nikki replied distantly.

"Does she have long brown hair in a ponytail? And brown eyes?" Riley said, looking over his shoulder.

"Um, yes? Why?"

"Because she's been staring at you for a while now," Riley murmured. Nikki shot up like she'd been burned and whirled around just as the girl ran out the door.

"Oh, I've got you now," she growled, chasing after her.

XXX

The smoke cleared and the audience could clearly see both Pokemon on the floor, knocked out.

"Neither Pokemon is able to continue!" The crowd roared in delight.

Glaring at Markus, Kane took out a third Pokeball, and nodded as his opponent did the same.

"Stage, Skarmory!"

"Don't let me down, Dark!"

The bird Pokemon shrieked in unison as they escaped their Pokeballs and shot into the air.

"Dark, begin with Fly and go straight into Night Slash!" Markus commanded his Honchkrow.

"Air Slash, Skarmory!"

Flying up in a near vertical line, Honchkrow sped up to try and shake the metal bird off its tail. They flew higher, one after another, until they were at the ceiling, and the lights prevented anyone from seeing what was going on.

"Now, Dark, Night Slash!" Markus screamed at the ceiling, frustrated that he couldn't keep an eye on his Pokemon.

Also squinting, Kane repeated his command, "Counter with Air Slash!"

Though no one saw the exact exchange of the two attacks, they heard the explosion when the Pokemon struck each other.

What they saw next completely shocked them, and the crowd fell into a suspenseful silence.

Dark and Skarmory had each other in tight clutches, neither willing to let go, and the two Pokemon were descending at an alarming rate.

Skarmory's Brave Bird was directed at the ground, and its speed was only rivaled by the Honchkrow's Sky Attack towards the same location.

Before either trainer could react, the two collided with the stadium and chunks of pavement and earth went flying.

Dirt flew upward from the impact of the two attacks and dust covered the whole arena.

**Cliffhanger! See if you can guess who will win?**

**Does anyone want to see a particular battle? Tell me. If I run out of ideas, I will start drawing out of a hat.**

**Tell me if you want something to happen in this story, too, or if you want to see more of a character. Here's a question: Who's your favorite character in this fic? Don't choose your own!**

**And I'm still accepting OCs. Submit as many as you want, because with the way things are going, this'll be a long fic...maybe...And be creative! (The more interesting they are, the bigger part I'll have them play.)**

**Also, I'm thinking of changing the name of my fanfic to ****And the Battle Begins!**** Is that a good name?**

**Any suggestions to making this a better fanfic? (Muse- shorten your Author's notes...)**

**Credits**

**Markus Pearl- Legendary Fairy**

**Kane Yaiba- Kasuchi, Koichi**

**Nikki- Fire Drastar**

**Riley- Mewk**

**(Not a lot of characters in this one, eh? Next time, there'll be more...probably...)**


	5. Rivalry

**Last Chapter: Markus Pearl and Kane Yaiba engage in a battle to pass the Preliminary rounds. Their Pokemon equal in strength, and soon they are left with only one last Pokemon. Will one rash decision end it for both of them? Meanwhile, Nikki is led on another wild goose chase for a mysterious girl. Is she really who she seems to be, or will Nikki's efforts go to waste?**

**Disclaimer- I wish.**

The audience fell into a stunned silence as both birds rammed into the ground.

Kane and Markus could do little more than hope for the best, and the victory.

Staring intensely at the dust, Kane wished fiercely to see the steel bird Pokemon fly out. However, when the cloud cleared after several tense moments, both lay still.

Markus almost ran out to help his Honchkrow, but stayed in his box, willing for Dark to get up.

The crowd watched in awe as the Honchkrow struggled to its feet and let out a victorious cry.

"Honchkrow!" It called for the world to hear, "Honchkrow!"

"Skarmory is unable to battle. Honchkrow wi-!" the announcer was cut off be a steel dart.

Skarmory used the last of its wavering strength for a Quick Attack, ramming into Dark and sending it flying through the air.

"Skarmory wins!" could be heard throughout Lilycove along with the screams of the wild audience.

XXX

Nikki raced through the busy streets of Lilycove, leaping out of the way of early afternoon shoppers.

"Megan!" She screamed, daring her rival to continue running, "Stop or I'll- Oh, when I get my hands on you!"

Nikki sprinted through the narrow alleys, feeling the adrenaline rush through her veins. Focused only on catching up to the brown-haired girl, she didn't even notice that she was running back towards the Contest Hall until she was right in front of it.

"Wha?" She looked around at the familiar scenery. The recently sun-dried mud cracked as she shifted her weight on to one foot, "Oh, no you don't. Missy, find her!"

The Misdreavus squealed with excitement as it escaped the confinement of its Pokeball and disappeared.

Nikki turned to the sound of footsteps and groaned, "Not _you_ again..."

Matt grinned his annoying reporter grin, "Ah! Nikki! Just the girl I wanted to see. How about an interview to celebrate this meeting?"

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, "As if. I'm busy right now, reporter, so shut up or so help me."

Matt pouted, "You're mean."

"Tell you what. If I find Megan, you can have your interview."

"Really?" the sandy-haired reporter asked, eyes sparkling.

Nikki sweatdropped, "An hour, tops."

"Misdreeeeeeeev!" They heard Missy's shrill cry. Grabbing Matt's hand, Nikki proceeded to drag him in the direction of the Ghost Pokemon.

"I'm coming, Missy. Keep her there!" she yelled back, attracting quite a number of odd glances.

Misdreavus replied by using an ear-splitting Screech attack.

"What is _that?_" Matt yelled over the noise, wrenching his arm out of Nikki's grip to cover his ears. Even Nikki winced, but didn't slow down.

"Come on, reporter."

"My name is Matt! I told you that already!"

They rounded a corner just as Misdreavus tackled her trainer in a childish show of affection.

"Argh! Missy, get off me!" Nikki yelled as she stumbled backwards. Shoving the ghost off of her, and glaring at it as it danced around happily, Nikki turned her attention to Megan.

The girl had her back to them, and seemed to be searching for possible escape routes. Her brown hair was held up in a slightly messy ponytail. Her eyes couldn't be seen, but Nikki could almost imagine the familiar chocolate brown orbs.

"Megan! What are you doing here?" She demanded. She immediately regretted her question as the girl turned to face her, a grin on her face.

"Why, Nikki! Don't you know? I'm here to win the tournament!" Megan smiled sweetly at her rival, "Isn't that why you came too?"

Nikki blanched. After a short pause, she managed to say, "You. You got a letter too?"

"Of course, of course. It'll be interesting going up against you, too. I'll be looking forward to it. Won't you?" Megan said distantly.

Matt looked back and forth between the two girls, deciding it would be unwise to butt in. Nikki was glaring ice daggers at Megan, who seemed to be somewhere else. Almost instantly, the brown-haired girl snapped back into reality.

"Say, why don't we have a little battle. One on one? It's been forever."

"You're on!" Nikki yelled, not wanting to back down to a challenge.

"Like old times," Megan smiled, anticipation dancing in her brown eyes, "Zanza, ready!"

The oddly-colored Zangoose leapt out of the thrown Pokeball, eager for a battle. Its eyes lit up as it recognized Nikki.

"Slasher, go!"

A Sandslash popped out of Nikki's Pokeball and immediately began to sharpen its glinting claws. Smirking viciously, it reached out a claw and gestured slightly to the Zangoose, as if to say, "Bring it on."

"Crush Claw!" Megan yelled just as Nikki commanded her Pokemon to use the same attack. This resulted in a full out glaring war.

The two Pokemon swiped at each other with powerfully sharp claws, both trying to outdo the other.

"Fall back, Slasher! Use X-Scissor!" Nikki changed tactics.

"Fight fire with fire, use X-Scissor, Zanza!" Matt shrunk. He swore that one of the two girls would fall over dead any moment now, with the intensity they were looking at each other.

The two X-Scissor attacks collided and only succeeded in knocking both Pokemon back a few feet.

"Earthquake, Slasher!"

"Close Combat!"

As the Sandslash jumped to produce a huge tremor, Zanza raced up to it and knocked it away with a claw, then following it up with a series of punches and swipes.

"Hit it, use Rock Slide!" Nikki shouted desperately in order to stop the quick succession of attacks.

"Get out of there with Quick Attack!"

Easily outmaneuvering the boulders that Slasher hurled at it, the Zangoose retreated.

"Night Slash, Slasher!"

"Counter with Detect! Then Ice Punch!"

The Sandslash's swipe bounced harmlessly off of Zanza's shield. Slasher never saw the attack coming. The Zangoose's super effective punch hit Slasher head on and sent it flying back to Nikki.

"No! Slasher!" She cried, running down to comfort her Pokemon.

"Well done, Zanza," Megan said distantly, calling back her Pokemon, "So long, Nikki. The next time we meet will also be on a battlefield."

An Altaria swooped down and picked up the victorious girl. They flew out of sight and Nikki fell to her knees, cradling the Sandslash and staring up into the vacant sky.

XXX

"Thank you for that thrilling battle, Markus and Kane. Kane Yaiba will be proceeding to the 1st round!" the announcer announced to the audience, who roared in excitement. "Next up, we have Kiriel Karoy and Zailia Kage. Give it up for these two outstanding trainers!"

The trainers walked out facing the crowd. Not bothering to bow or greet them in any way, Zailia turned her back and walked out to her platform, gripping a Pokeball.

"Get over here," She called quietly to her opponent.

Meeting the girl's dark gaze, Kiriel gave her his own evil eye.

"Let's begin."

***Dramatic Music Plays* Battle of the Icy Trainers! I got a request for it, so the battle is dedicated to Karpil.**

**Now, let me see. My announcements for today are...**

**Oh, yes. I'm changing the title. It's now going to be ****Lilycove Tournament: And the Battle Begins!****...or something like that.**

**And someone reviewed about Electabuzz not being able to learn Volt Tackle. One, I didn't come up with the attacks, and Two, that's in the games, not in the actual Pokemon...**

**And for the favorite character poll, Riley wins with two votes! Not a lot of votes...If you still have a favorite character, feel free to say so!**

**You're also free to suggest any battle pairings. Tell me if you want to see more of a character, too!**

**And to all of you who have OCs that I haven't use, I promise that I'll get to them eventually. I'm up to my waist with unused OCs! Thank you, all, and I'm still accepting!**

**And finally, I wanted to post this chapter this morning, but I got caught up in the Pokemon manga...so I procrastinated until now...Let's see if I can type up the next chapter for tomorrow...**

**Credits**

**Kane- Kasuchi, Koichi**

**Markus- Legendary Fairy**

**Megan and Nikki- Fire Drastar**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Kiriel- Karpil**


	6. Perish Song

**Disclaimer- Hm, I wonder...**

"Shiftry!" Zailia called out as she threw a Pokeball up into the air.

"Avia," the Staravia soared out and circled around its grass opponent, "Aerial Ace."

The black and white bird disappeared just as Shiftry was sent flying.

"It's fast!" Zailia cursed, "Sunny Day!"

Shiftry held one hand up to the sky, but it had no effect because of the ceiling.

"Ha! Fly!" Staravia began flying upward, but not letting Shiftry out of its sight.

"Use Leaf Storm!"

Shiftry let loose a barrage of wild leaves that shot towards the bird Pokemon. Staravia easily evaded them.

"This is too easy," Kiriel murmured to himself, "It's either I'm going to crush her, or..."

His eyes widened as the leaves crashed against the ceiling, causing the building to shake. Bits of dust and rubble fell from the weakened roof.

"It's collapsing! Get out of there, Avia!"

Staravia dodged the chunks of tiles as the ceiling caved in, but wasn't expecting another attack from below.

"Whirlwind, Shiftry. Hurl them at Avia!" Zailia commanded, taking advantage of the boulders.

The falling chunks of the ceiling hit the vicious wind and were tossed back towards the Staravia.

"Staravia!" the bird cried as a rock hit its underbelly. It was sent flying towards the sky, only to be crushed by a different chunk.

"No! Avia!" Kiriel cried, returning his fallen Pokemon. Glaring at the sunlight that streamed through the hole in the ceiling, Kiriel decided to take advantage of Shiftry's Sunny Day, "Go, Blaze! Use Blaze Kick!"

A Blaziken exploded out of the Pokeball and continued its way towards Shiftry, flaming leg in the front.

"Dodge it. Faint Attack," Zailia said rather lazily. In an unnatural burst of speed, Shiftry launched itself behind Blaze and slammed into its opponent.

"Flare Blitz while it can't dodge!"

The Blaziken got up from the ground and attacked the Shiftry while it was still in mid-air. The super-effective hit scorched the Shiftry and sent it spiraling through the air.

"Shiftry is unable to battle! Blaze wins!"

"Shadow, you're up!" Zailia shouted, "Future Sight!"

The Absol's eyes glowed purple, before returning to their usual red.

"Blaze, use Quick Attack!" The Blaziken dashed to its mark, intent on ramming into it.

"Sucker Punch, Shadow."

Blaziken was thrown back by the attack, but got up again to tackle the Absol.

"Razor Wind! Now!" Zailia demanded.

"Blaze, hit it while it's charging, Flare Blitz!" Again, fire flashed up around Blaziken and it charged at Shadow. Just as it was reaching the Absol, however, Future Sight hit and stopped it dead in its tracks. As it was struggling to overcome the attack, Absol looked up.

Several blades of wind collided with Blaze head on. After flying into the air, the Blaziken crashed landed beside its trainer.

"Blaziken fainted! Absol wins!"

"Rukar, win this for me!" A Lucario was released on to the battlefield.

"Focus Blast, Rukar. Finish it quickly!"

The Lucario began to form a powerful ball of energy.

"Stop it! Shadow, Me First!"

A similar ball of energy formed in Absol's mouth. They both launched. For the audience, time seemed to pass in slow motion.

As the two blasts destroyed each other, they caused an explosion that shook the whole stadium and filled the entire room in a thick smoke.

Out of the cloud, Kiriel shouted for Rukar to use Aura Sphere.

"Perish Song, Shadow!"

An ear-splitting song made Kiriel's head pound as he struggled to remember the effects of the attack.

His Pokemon appeared beside him, weakened. The song strengthened. The Lucario was forced on its knees.

"Rukar! What-?" He cut himself off as the memories of Perish Song flowed back.

"Finish it quickly! Close Combat!"

Not long after Rukar disappeared, Kiriel heard a loud whack, signaling that the Lucario had hit its mark. Unfortunately, the song amplified until it was deafening to listen to. The end was near.

"Rukar, use Mach Punch!" Kiriel cried, but to no avail. It was over. The song ended.

XXX

"So Nikki, how did it feel when you first lost a battle? Who did you lose against?" Matt asked.

The girl groaned. Surely an hour had past already. She glanced at the clock. Nope, there was still 45 minutes left, "It sucked...I don't want to talk about it."

"Who did you lose against, though? Was it that girl? What was her name, Megan?"

"Shut up, reporter."

"No! And my name is Matt! You said I could interview you!" he whined.

Nikki glared at him.

"Hm, then what did it feel like when you first won?"

The black-haired girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as if remembering, "I knew I could go far. I wanted to do so, to be the best, not only for me, but for my Pokemon too."

"Really now," Matt raised an eyebrow, "So how did it feel to win the Kanto League?"

Opening her eyes again, Nikki didn't pause to think, "Disappointing. I don't know if you know this already, but I only won on my third try. At first, I was defeated so easily. My second time around...I thought I would make it. But I lost to Megan. The third time, I only won because Megan wasn't there. If she had competed, I would have lost. It wasn't as good a feeling as it could've been."

"But you still won against all those other trainers. Megan isn't the only one that matters."

Groaning again, Nikki shot another glance at the clock, wondering what evil had possessed her to agree to this. She still had to wait 20 minutes.

Liar, she cursed at the clock.

"But I wasn't satisfied. I wasn't the best. I still needed to improve if there was someone I couldn't beat."

"So why did you come here to the Lilycove Tournament? To improve?"

Nikki scowled, glaring at the evil clock again, "No, I didn't want to come. I wanted to train some more. However, my mother thought I should take a break."

"Who was your first Pokemon?" Matt wondered.

"Nosy brat," Nikki muttered under her breath, "Tiny was. She's a Dragonite, but I got her as a Dratini."

"What would you say was the hardest thing you've ever accomplished?"

"Either training Yara or Missy, hands down," Nikki replied automatically.

"Who?" Matt said, confused.

Nikki blinked, "What? Oh! Yara is my Gyarados and Missy is my Misdreavus."

"How is a Misdreavus harder to train then a Gyarados?" the sandy-haired reporter looked at her oddly.

"Yara _is_ where I got all my scars from," Nikki said, glancing at her scarred arms, "But you'd understand if you ever woke up in the middle of one of Missy's prank wars."

Shivering slightly at the memory, Nikki stood up and laughed triumphantly, "Ha! Time is up!"

She dashed out the door before Matt could stop her.

**Yes, the last part isn't really important, but now you know more about Nikki.**

**Is it only me who wasn't satisfied with the battle scene? I think I could've done better...Don't worry, Karpil, I'm not through with Kiriel yet...I think, anyway.**

**Oh, yes. And do any of you actually sleep? I got most of my reviews at about 3 in the morning! I know that there are time differences, but does everyone really live across the world from me?**

**And also, I forgot about this. I got a request for a bit of romance. What do you all think?**

**Any requests for battles? Anyone you'd like to see more of? Tell me!**

**The current winners for the Favorite Characters are...Zailia and Riley with, yet again, two votes! Keep voting!**

**Credits**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Kiriel- Karpil**

**Nikki and Megan- Fire Drastar**

**(Heh, not a lot of characters today. I'll try to do more next time.)**


	7. Wish Upon a Star

**Disclaimer: How about not?**

Bella Thomas smiled confidently as her Masquerain executed a perfect loop before going into an Ice Beam attack.

"You must be quite the trainer. Your Pokemon seem like they've been raise well," she heard a smooth voice from above.

Tilting her head upward, she saw a trainer riding on a floating Metagross. He had black hair that he kept in a ponytail with red and white tips. His eyes were a dark blue, almost violet.

"Hm? And you are?"

"My name is Artix. I take it you are going to enter the Tournament?" Artix asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, "Bella said, turning back to her Pokemon, "Why are you here?"

"I am also entering," Artix replied, observing the Masquerain's techniques with interest.

"No. I meant, why are you here?"

"Talking to you? You're around the same age as my brother," he said distantly, as if remembering something.

"Is he here?" Bella asked curiously.

Artix grinned at her and gestured to the Contest Hall, "The real reason I'm here is to tell you that it's your turn to battle."

Jumping up, Bella recalled her Masquerain.

Before she left, Bella turned to Artix one last time, "I'll be seeing more of you, then?"

She left for the stadium, leaving Artix staring at her back.

XXX

"The battle between Bella Thomas and Ari Harper will now begin!"

"Let's go, Masquerain!" Bella shouted, deciding to take advantage of the lack of a ceiling.

"Seviper, you're up!"

The two Pokemon appeared on the stadium and immediately began glaring at each other.

"Seviper, Flamethrower now!" Ari commanded.

"Dodge it, Masquerain, and use Shadow Ball!"

The bug Pokemon flew sideways, but the Flamethrower still managed to graze its wing. Faltering a bit, Masquerain shot an eerie black ball at the snake.

"Seviper!" the Seviper cried as it was hit by the Shadow Ball.

"Now use Ice Beam!"

"Flamethrower again!" Ari shouted. The beam of ice was melted by the searing flames. Masquerain cried out in pain as the Flamethrower threw it backwards.

"Hold on, Masquerain. Use Air Slash!" Bella exclaimed.

Her Pokemon responded weakly before diving towards the snake. Slashing with all its might, Masquerain managed to dodge Seviper's lunge and hit its underbelly.

Hissing in rage, Seviper used Aqua Tail on the small Pokemon and almost crushed it.

"Masquerain!" it cried in protest as it shot up towards the sky again.

"Seviper, hide using Haze. Then attack with Flamethrower," Ari said.

Black mist flew out of Seviper's mouth and into the air. The Flamethrower hit Masquerain dead on.

"Mah!" It cried piteously, as it sank to the ground and fainted.

"Masquerain, return. You did wonderfully," Bella said softly. Then she raised her voice, "Venasaur! Don't fail me!"

The blue and green plant dinosaur roared before shooting blades of sharp petals at Seviper.

"Flamethrower!"

Skillfully dodging most of the unexpected attack, Seviper spat out flames and successfully disintegrating the rest of the Petal Dance.

"Double Edge," Bella commanded. Venasaur rammed into Seviper, taking advantage over its larger body mass.

"Seviper is unable to battle!"

"Return, Seviper. I choose Togetic!" Ari shouted, releasing the Happiness Pokemon, "Silver Wind!"

A strong gust blew in against Venasaur. The dinosaur struggled to not be blown backwards, roaring, "Venasaaaaaur! Venasaaaaaaur!"

"Magical Leaf, Togetic!" A flurry of rainbow leaves shot towards Togetic's target and cut against the already battered Venasaur.

"Synthesis! Then use Solarbeam!"

Taking in the sunlight streaming through the hole in the ceiling, Venasaur healed itself and prepared for the strong attack.

"Wish, Togetic. Hang in there!"

Togetic closed its eyes and braced itself for the worst.

The beam hit directly, damaging the Togetic badly. It wobbled and struggled to stay airborne.

"Togetic, try a Thunder Wave," Ari said cautiously, not wanting to push the hurt Pokemon too much.

With much effort, Togetic pulled out the energy to shoot a weakened Thunder Wave at its opponent. The newly restored Venasaur shook it off with ease, though.

"Double Edge!" Bella shouted, tasting victory.

"Togetic, Baton Pass!" Ari commanded desperately, not wanting the poor Pokemon to get hurt anymore, "Rapidash, let's go!"

A fiery horse sprang out of the Pokeball and neighed proudly, shaking its mane and enjoying the freedom.

"Fire Blast! Hit it hard!"

The Venasaur stood no chance. The star shaped attack hit it before Bella could think of a counter-attack. It had fainted before it hit the ground again.

"Fine. It's been a while since I was driven into a corner. Go, Arcanine!"

The canine barked as it landed with a thud on the stadium.

Ari gritted his teeth. The Arcanine's Flash Fire limited much of Rapidash's attacks, but Rapidash had a Flash Fire of its own. It would be an interesting battle.

"Rapidash, Sunny Day!"

The heat intensified and the air turned humid. Despite the sun's glares, the audience sat at the edge of their seats, eager to see what each trainer would do.

"Extremespeed, Arcanine!"

"Shoot it down with Solarbeam!"

The Rapidash's Solarbeam kicked in immediately. One shot blasted the canine Pokemon backwards, halting the incredibly speedy attack.

"Solarbeam again!"

It was even quicker this time. Arcanine and Bella barely had any time to process what had just happened before Arcanine was thrown against the wall behind them.

"Arcanine! Can you continue?" The canine barked weakly, but got to its feet. Its eyes showed that it would not stop until the battle was over.

"Good. Extremespeed. Don't stop," Bella said.

Arcanine nodded in agreement and disappeared. Rapidash was thrown backwards in a similar manner, but it wasn't allowed to hit the wall. Arcanine hit it again, tossing it forward as the impact knocked the breath out of the fire horse.

Again and again, Arcanine struck before Rapidash could follow its movements. It allowed no time for the horse to recover, always striking when it was weak.

Finally, Rapidash collapsed in front of its trainer. The announcer looked at it questioningly, wondering if he should stop the battle.

Suddenly, a light began to shine on Rapidash and it began to glow.

"Impossible," Bella muttered to herself, "Rapidashes can't evolve. So what is this?"

The horse stood up like it had never been hurt at all, the light still wrapped around its torso.

As the last bit faded away, Rapidash neighed, feeling power surge through its body.

"Flame Wheel right into an Iron Tail!" Ari commanded, relieved. Togetic's Wish had come true.

Flames shot up from around Rapidash. It charged, somersaulting through the air before the fire in its tail turned to steel right before it crashed into Arcanine's face.

The Arcanine roared in agony, and fainted.

"Arcanine is unable to battle. Victory goes to Ari and his Rapidash!"

**The mysterious Metagross trainer makes his next appearance! And now he has a name. Just who is this Artix?**

**I hope this battle makes up for yesterday's.**

**Favorite characters are still the same. Submit yours!**

**Still accepting any battle requests. Want to see a character against another character? Tell me! Right now, I'm just pairing up people who might have interesting battles.**

**The romance topic is still shaky. We've got some readers for it. If you do want romance, send in pairings. I'll ask the owners of each character before pairing them with someone, so don't worry.**

**Also, I got an idea! What if...this tournament actually had a plotline!? *gasps* But I'd have to make a sequel...Anyways, it's just a stray idea and if you guys don't want it, then I'll discard it.**

**This chapter wasn't my best, but the weekends are coming, so I'll be able to type all day!**

**Credits**

**Ari and Artix- Serpent's Ballet**

**Bella- PokemonFanXxX**

**(Not a lot of characters again, but I introduced a new one! That's got to count for something! Again, apologizing to all OCs who are sitting in my folder unused. I'll get to you eventually!)**


	8. Missing!

**Disclaimer- Own nothing but the tournament. Amee and Miranda are also mine.**

"Help!" A woman rushed into the Pokemon Center, screaming.

"Ah! What is it?" Nurse Joy ran over to help her.

"My child...My poor little baby..." the woman sobbed.

From the couch, Raylight and Ziri looked over at the commotion. Trainers were beginning to gather around the woman.

"My little girl," the lady sniffled shakily, "Oh, Amee's only five. Sh-she got carried away by the-the-"

Her whimpers turned into an incomprehensible wail. Ziri winced.

"...Should we help?" Ziri asked uncertainly, turning to the boy beside him.

"I don't have anything better to do," Raylight said smoothly.

The pair stood up suddenly and made their way towards the crowd.

"Miss, we'll help you," Raylight soothed in a way that Ziri never thought he could.

_Maybe he's not _that _bad_, he thought.

"Where did you last see her?"

"W-we were on a w-walk," the woman mumbled, gripping Raylight's arms like they were the only thing connecting her to the world, "A b-bird grabbed her. They flew off towards the w-west."

Raylight met Ziri's eyes and nodded. Together, they ran out of the Pokemon Center and towards the beach.

"There's a cave near the edge of the water," Raylight murmured to his companion, "A couple of years ago, it was the hideout for some evil organization, so it's the perfect place for someone to go to."

"That makes sense," Ziri reasoned, "Is it that over there?"

The boy pointed to a rocky wall. The rock was different in certain areas, but a normal passerby had no way to tell.

Raylight traced the rocky patterns with his finger, "Seems like it."

He raised one fist and pounded the wall.

Nothing happened.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Ziri asked him, "You know, it could be a coincidence."

Pursing his lips, Raylight snapped, "There are no such things as coincidences. Do you see any other way to get in?"

"Try Diving," a calm voice suggested from behind them.

Glancing over his shoulder, Ziri exclaimed, "It's you! Riley!"

The black haired boy laughed, "Looking for something?"

"The hideout. Raylight insists this is the place where you can enter some hideout."

"It is," Riley agreed, "But they changed the entrance. Now it's an underwater entrance. You guys can Dive, right?"

Raylight silently nodded, releasing a Kingdra into the water. Ziri blushed, "Um, not on me right now?"

Rolling his eyes, Riley sighed, "Why is that not a surprise? You can ride with me on Swampert."

"You're coming?" Raylight asked, slightly annoyed.

"Of course. I'm not going to let you guys take the spotlight."

"Don't get in my way." He jumped on to Kingdra and commanded the dragon-like Pokemon to dive.

Riley and Ziri exchanged glances before the former shrugged, "Let's go."

XXX

Alessandra watched as Raylight and Ziri dashed out of the Pokemon Center, quickly followed by a black haired boy.

_Oh well,_ she thought,_ I'll leave it to them._

"Don't worry about them. They'll get her back. I'm Alex," she coaxed the troubled woman into a chair.

"My name is M-Miranda. Are you sure they'll get Amee?"

"Positive," Alex flashed Miranda her most reassuring grin.

The woman managed a small smile as she collapsed into the offered chair.

"Here," a brown haired girl said quietly, holding two cups of coffee up to them.

Surprised, they accepted it.

The girl sat down beside Alex, "It'll be okay."

"I know. It's just that Amee is really young," Miranda hiccupped, "Do you have a name?"

"M-My name?...Sulphur."

"That's a unique name," Alex commented.

Sulphur blushed, "I hate it. Call me Sulph."

"Has anything unusual happened recently? Why would Amee be kidnapped?" Alex turned to Miranda.

"Well, you two are entering the Lilycove Tournament? Do you know the history of it?"

Alex and Sulph turned to each other. Sulpher spoke first, "I don't believe I have. Is it important?"

"You haven't. That's because it doesn't have one. I'd say the tournament itself is odd. We were never told about any competition."

Alex looked puzzled, "It just popped up one night?"

Miranda nodded.

Sulpher stood up, "Then I'll investigate. I'm sure there are clues somewhere."

"I'm coming too!" Alex exclaimed before turning to Miranda," That is, unless you want...?"

Miranda shook her head and gestured for the two to go on, "No, no. I'll be fine."

Barely nodding, both girls took off towards the Contest Hall.

XXX

"Where did he go?" Riley yelled down the hallway. His voice echoed, bouncing off the walls in the long corridor.

Ziri sighed from beside him. They had been walking for the past ten minutes, and Raylight was nowhere to be seen.

The hall was dimly lit be various lamps that had been nailed to the rocky walls. Spinarak webs covered the corners, and it was apparent that this entrance had been here for a while.

"Zuuuuu!" Something shrieked and flew past them, causing both Riley and Ziri to jump backwards.

"It's just a Zubat," Riley called, glancing backwards.

"Hey, Riley," Ziri said, "The path splits."

"Hm?" the black haired boy ran to catch up with his partner.

"See? This path continues, but there's a narrower hallway here. I didn't notice at first because it's angled so that we wouldn't see it."

"Wow. This is a complex place," Riley muttered, staring off into the distant darkness.

"Yeah. There might be traps, so watch ou-Ahhh!" Ziri's voice rose.

"Ziri! What is it?"

The boy stood up and brushed himself off, "I'm fine. There are stairs here. I wasn't expecting them so I stumbled."

Riley groaned, "Don't do that. You scared me half to death."

Ziri laughed, "They were only stairs. Wait, is that a light?"

The hallway led to a circular room, full of complicated devices and machines.

"Pokemon Blender," Riley read off of a label, "Place two Pokemon in chambers to create a brand new Pokemon!"

"Is that even legal?" Ziri asked, amazed and disgusted at the same time.

"Probably not," Riley reasoned.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching them.

"Hide!" Riley hissed at Ziri, diving behind a large machine. Ziri followed him, deciding that going inside one of the devices might not be the best idea.

A dark figure entered the room.

**Will Riley and Ziri escape without any unnecessary merging with Pokemon? Just where **_**is**_** Raylight? And also, what evil things will Sulpher and Alex discover?**

**Let's see, my announcements for today...woah, that's a lot...**

**Sorry for not updating yesterday! Either FF wasn't working, or it was my crappy computer.**

**A lot of people have asked me if a character gets kicked out of the story when they lose.**

**Well, they lose the tournament (can't participate anymore) but we might still see them in the story. It depends on how I feel, if I have something in store for them, if I get requests for them, and how big the unused OCs pile is.**

**I read this story on FF, and realized how freaking short my scenes are...I'll try to make them longer. Seriously, they were less than a foot long. It's amazing how everything seems so much longer on Microsoft.**

**Favorite OCs- Still Zailia and Riley (with 2 votes) and lots of runner ups.**

**Any requests? Battles you want to see? Characters you really like and want to see more of?**

**For romance, I'll do a bit since a lot of people said yes. It won't be the main plot, though. (Muse- In other words, she can't write romance fics to save her life.) Since no one has any pairings in mind, do any of you have any pairings you would absolutely **_**hate**_** to read and I should avoid them at any cost?**

**Thanks to all people who read my story, review my story, Favorited my story, put it under alert, etc. I'll keep trying to update quickly for all of you!**

**Credits**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Riley- Mewk**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**(Sorry to all people who still read my story and I haven't gotten to their OC yet! You'll see them eventually. I also apologize to the many people whose OC hasn't appeared in a while. I'm juggling roles!)**


	9. What is That?

**Disclaimer- The usual.**

Sulphur and Alex struggled to get into the Contest Hall. Hordes of people were exiting. Apparently, the competition was over for the day.

"Excuse me," Alex mumbled as she was pushed backwards for the twentieth time.

"Over here, Alex!" Sulphur called from inside the building.

If being polite didn't work, Alex reasoned, then she'd use force.

Roughly pushing past a muscular man and his daughter, Alex managed to reach the brown-haired girl.

"Sh! We're going to sneak in!"

Alex shot her companion an odd look, "Um, why? Couldn't we just walk in? We have passes."

"Yeah, but normally people sneak in to find clues about kidnappings."

Keeping close to the walls, the pair ran into a random room.

"Where are we?" Sulph mumbled. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the quick decrease in lighting.

"It looks like the stadium. Wow, this is bigger than I thought it was," Alex observed, "Imagine battling here, with millions of people watching you."

Sulphur sighed, "Not going to think about that now. Anyways, help me find clues."

Alex shrugged, trying to shake off the nervousness that was starting to build up. Putting her hands on the wall, she tried looking for trap doors.

"What is this?" Sulphur muttered. It felt like the handle of a door so she turned it.

"Did you find something?" Alex shouted from halfway across the room.

"No, it's just a broom closet," Sulph yelled back, turning to try and locate the other girl.

"Then come here! There's a door in front of me!" Alex yelled, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

A jolt of nervousness bolted through her body as Sulphur raced towards Alex's voice.

"Open it!"

"No! It's...hard."

Sulphur spotted her companion, "Hold on! I'll do it."

Immediately, Sulph realized what Alex meant. The door looked normal at first glance, but it radiated an evil aura. Sulphur shivered.

"Okay, let's do this," she said, partly to herself. It was oddly comforting to hear your own voice.

She put one hand on the handle and swung the door open.

XXX

"What _is_ that?" Ziri hissed in a repulsed voice.

The thing passed by him. It was a mix between several different Pokemon, they could easily tell that.

Its head looked like a Bastiodon, but it had a horn similar to a Heracross's protruding from its forehead. Its body could be easily identified as an Arcanine's; the same could be said about its hind legs. Its hands and arms belonged to a Sandslash, but its tail was from a Seviper. It even had an Aerodactyl's wings.

"_That_," Riley concludes simply, "is one messed up Pokemon."

"If it could be called a Pokemon," Ziri muttered.

In one swift movement, the Pokemon lashed out with its bladed tail. Ziri only just managed to avoid being sliced in half.

The thing glared at the two, somewhat curiously. The other two-legged creatures had always kept their distance. It had never been this close to one before.

It raised a single claw, ready to find out how much the odd beings bled.

Backing away from it, Ziri raised his hands in a 'calm down' gesture, "Erm, nice...uh...Pokemon thing?"

"Get down!" Riley warned as he hit the floor himself. The talon slashed at the air right above their heads as Ziri ducked just in time.

"Raichu! Help me out!" Riley shouted, throwing a Pokeball in the general direction of the enemy."Typhlosion, flame on!" Ziri followed his example, unleashing the fire Pokemon.

"Graghhhhhhhhh!" The Pokemon responded to the challenge by using a Slash attack that sent the Electric Mouse flying. Raichu crashed into Typlosion, who roared in protest.

"Get it together, Raichu, use Thunder!"

Raichu launched a powerful bolt of electricity towards the monster. Unfortunately, it caught the attack in its claws and hurled it at a machine.

The explosion rattled the entire hideout and caused several chunks of debris to fall on the two trainers.

"Ziri! Are you alright?" Riley cried, narrowly escaping a boulder.

"Fine, now Typlosion, Fire Blast!" Ziri yelled, getting more frustrated by the moment.

The fire Pokemon obeyed quickly, as eager to win as its trainer, and shot a star shaped fire attack towards its opponent. It hit dead on.

"We are doomed," Riley muttered.

"What are you talking about? I hit it!"

Riley managed a weak smile, "Sometimes ignorance is bliss. You hit its body. It looked like a direct hit, too."

"Um, yeah. How is that bad?" Ziri asked, confused, "Where I grew up, knocking out the opponent is good."

Riley sighed, "It has Arcanine's body. Arcanine have the ability Flash Fire."

The sandy-haired boy paled considerably.

Flames shot up from around the Pokemon and a large jet of fire in the shape of a hawk shot towards Raichu and Typlosion.

They stood no chance. The two Pokemon cried out in pain as the hawks slammed into them with deadly speed and precision.

"What was that?" Ziri demanded.

Riley stared in disbelief, "I never want to find out."

"Return!" Both trainers recalled their Pokemon before further damage could be done. With no opponent, the Pokemon turned to Riley and Ziri.

They both cursed and scrambled to find another Pokemon.

"Alakazam! Hit it hard!" Riley snatched a Pokeball off of his belt and hurled it into the air.

"Salamence, go!" Ziri yelled. The dragon took flight almost immediately, roaring out a battle cry to show its strength.

The Pokemon took off, also, and shot out a jet of flames.

"Dragonbreath!" Ziri commanded.

"Alakazam, help them out. Use Psybeam!"

The two attacks merged and collided with the enemy. Even with the combined strength of both Pokemon, it shook off the attack like it was nothing.

Letting loose a shrill shriek, the Pokemon dove towards the Alakazam, knocking it out with a single Mega Horn.

"Alakazam! Come back!" Riley yelled, slightly panicked.

"Alright, Salamance. Outrage! Take it down!" Ziri demanded.

Salamance roared again and wildly charged at the monster, not caring where it hit. It only wanted to win. The dragon's eyes glowed red and its talons grew to at least double their usual size. With amazing speed, Salamence attacked the other Pokemon. It dove for the win...

Only to be knocked down by an Ice Fang attack. The Pokemon bit down hard on Salamence's wing.

"No! Salamence, return!"

The Pokemon threw a Rock Slide at the two boys, not waiting for them to send out something else.

Ziri rolled out of the way and the Pokemon charged at him with Iron Head.

"Ziri!" Riley managed before ducking out of the way of an incoming boulder.

Ziri was tossed across the room like a limp rag doll. Eyes gleaming in a way that could only be described as evil, the Pokemon turned to the only remaining person.

Riley gulped as sweat poured from his brow. By now, the Rock Slide had halted, and those fallen rocks were the only things that would protect him from harm.

That and...

Riley dove for one of the broken machines just as the Pokemon lunged. Electricity coursed through his body as he touched several broken wires and he winced.

Grabbing a shard of broken glass, and ignoring the sharp pain as it dug into his flesh, Riley threw the projectile towards the Pokemon.

It bounced off its hard head harmlessly.

The Pokemon grinned, showing off rows of sharp teeth.

Wait, Riley caught himself, Bastiodon didn't have teeth. Maybe Sharpedo?

Pulling its fist back, it charged a Focus Punch. Riley didn't blink. Was this the end for him?

**Hehe. A cliffhanger. Aren't I so evil? What will happen to Riley? What about Ziri and Raylight?**

**This was a super fun chapter to write! ^_^ It was the most exciting, I think. What should the weird monster Pokemon be called? It's hard always calling it 'The Pokemon' or 'monster' all the time.**

**And looking back, should I up the rating a bit?**

**Sorry to all characters that haven't been used in a while! I'll get to you too! Just later.**

**And starting right now, all OCs I get will still be used. They just won't have big roles. They'll maybe get a battle or two, but nothing major, unless they're super interesting (and that means REALLY unique and original history and personality.)**

**Favorite Character is back to Riley, with 3 votes, with the runner-ups of Kane, Ziri, Artix, and Zailia. There are too many third places to count (that and this author's note is getting long!)**

**Hm, which OC should I do next...Any suggestions? Requests? And yes, Koichi, I'll get to Kane. Don't worry! ^_^ (I'm just not good at romance/flirting stuff. Any tips?)**

**Which leads me to romance. Until I get an idea about what I'm doing, it's not going to show up much. Tips, suggestions, and ideas would be greatly appreciated!**

**Question of the Century (has nothing to do with story. Just wondering what you guys thought): Can silence be deafening?**

**Credits**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Riley- Mewk**

**(Sorry again, to everyone I didn't use.)**


	10. Disgust and Wonder

**Disclaimer- Forget this. I am actually the person who invented Pokemon in disguise. Cower in fear!...eh, no. I don't.**

"Lucario! Aura Sphere!" Raylight commanded. The Aura Pokemon was quick to comply, blasting the attack at full power towards the chimera.

The sudden attack caught it off guard, and the ball of aura slammed into its fist, interrupting its concentration. Snarling, the chimera whipped to glare at the newcomers.

"Close Combat, and then Extremespeed to get out of there," Raylight commanded with flawless strategy.

Nodding in assent, Lucario dashed off to pummel the chimera in the face. It was followed by a quick kick to the legs and a punch to the chest. Before the Pokemon could respond, Lucario had returned to its former position, kneeling in front of Raylight with its eyes on it opponent.

Roaring in rage and excitement, the Chimera launched a Fire Blast in their direction.

"Let it hit you. Use Endure," Raylight said calmly. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

The Lucario braced itself for the incoming attack. The flames enveloped it, but the Aura Pokemon bit back its cry of pain. It wasn't going to give the opponent the pleasure of hearing it.

"Now, Reversal!"

Lucario let loose its pain and slammed into the chimera. Yes, that was for everything. That was for thinking it could win.

Both Pokemon cried out, in pain and fury.

Enraged that such a Pokemon would _dare_ stand up to it, and stand a chance, the chimera shrieked almost deafeningly. Again, flames rose around Lucario, but these were not the same as before. They were stronger, bigger, and seemed...almost holy.

After realizing that Lucario's fate had been sealed from the moment the fire had risen, Raylight decided to give the chimera a taste of its own medicine, "Use Me First!"

Similar flames rose around the Pokemon, which looked around wildly in confusion. Lucario managed a smirk, before submitting to the raging attack that licked at its flesh.

"Return, Lucario. You won for sure," Raylight said, holding the Pokeball that contained his friend tightly before putting it away.

"Now, Flygon! Crush it with Draco Meteor!"

The dragonfly shrieked before calling down dozens of large meteorites to crush the chimera.

The chimera let loose its last roar before closing its eyes and exploding into flashes of light.

Raylight shielded his eyes with his arm, and when he looked again, all he saw was a ruined room. He began to walk around to inspect the damage but tripped over something.

Looking over, he saw an unconscious Ziri.

Raylight blinked once, before checking for a pulse. Somewhat relieved to find one, Raylight moved to where Riley had fallen.

"Are you okay?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Mhmmm," Riley mumbled, before grudgingly opening his eyes, "Eh? Raylight? When did you-?"

"Just now I saved your sorry hide."

"I was perfectly fine, thank you very much!" Riley exclaimed, before spotting Ziri.

"He's fine," Raylight sighed.

Riley looked around, "This looks a lot worse than it did when I was running. What are the odds that they'll walk right past without noticing it?"

"100 percent."

The black haired boy stared at Raylight, trying to detect any hint of sarcasm, "Really?"

"Well, if they're blind," Raylight said shrugging.

"An imposter!" Riley exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at the other boy, "Raylight would never joke like that! He'd be the normal, really uptight idiot that he is and say, 'You idiots create too many problems!'"

Raylight rolled his eyes, "You idiots create too many problems."

XXX

A cold breeze caused a shiver to run through Sulphur's body.

"What do you see?" Alex asked in a hushed whisper. She could feel it. Evil roamed freely in this place.

"Nothing," Sulph replied nervously, "It's dark, but I think I can see a little bit of light."

The two looked at each other, wondering if they should go on. After all, they could always hightail it out of there and pretend this had never happened.

"No," Alex said firmly, "What will happen to Amee if we give up?"

Sulphur nodded and took a step inside, her confidence renewed. Alex did the same, but jumped as the doors slammed behind them.

Slightly frightened, she looked at her companion. Sulphur shook her head and they continued into the unknown.

XXX

"Uhn," Ziri groaned as he sat up. His head hurt and the room was spinning. Wait a minute, he told himself.

Wildly, he looked around. Where was the room?

It looked like he was in a tornado site. Boulders and chunks of debris littered the ground, and was that a meteor he saw?

Ziri spotted Riley and got up.

"You awake?" the black haired boy asked, "Any breaks? Are you still sane?"

"Yeah," Ziri muttered, already slightly irritated, "What happened in here?"

"Raylight came and saved us. He went on alone to save the girl, though. You were unconscious and I was defeated by that thing. It's gone now."

"So, we wait?"

"That's the plan."

The next few moments passed in an awkward silence before Ziri thought of something.

"Hey, how did Raylight get behind us if he was ahead of us?" he asked confused.

"Huh?" Riley thought for a moment, "Well, I suppose that means we were going around in a circle. That means the hideout has three hallways; this one, the one that goes from the entrance, and the main circle. Raylight must've gone around more than us, which would take us in front of him. Get it?"

Ziri looked at him, confused, "Um, sure. Let's pretend that I understand."

XXX

Raylight walked down the hallway, alone, but confident. There wasn't a thing in the world that could stop him now.

He sighed though, wondering how long these hallways had to be. It had been at least ten minutes and no sign of a room.

Scratch that, he thought as he noticed the lack of support beneath him.

"Help me out, Flygon!" he yelled, jumping onto his Pokemon. The Flygon lowered him to the ground and he looked up. The drop had to be at least 50 feet.

Shivering at the thought of what might have been, Raylight turned to observe his surroundings.

He was in a large room. Bigger than even the Lilycove stadium, Raylight noticed.

Different types of Pokemon were being held captive in multiple tanks filled with an odd gray liquid.

"What in the world...unforgivable," Raylight muttered under his breath, looking around. There were so much more crossbreeds. There were crosses between Ariados and Beedrill, Salamence and Gyarados, even Gengar and Umbreon.

In the center of the room, a girl was strapped to a chair. She had brown hair, held up in cute pigtails, and a lost expression on her angelic face. As Raylight got closer, he noticed a small diamond mark on her forehead. A birthmark, maybe?

"Hey, Amee," he called out to her softly. She didn't answer him, and continued staring off into the distance. Her big brown eyes remained empty of life, but Raylight could tell she was alive. Perhaps they had drugged her.

"Flygon," he said quietly to the dragonfly behind him, "Dragon Claw on those ropes."

"Flyyy," the Pokemon replied before slashing them open.

Raylight tucked one arm under her legs, and use the other to support her head as he picked her up gently.

"Are you a prince?" Amee said distantly.

Raylight almost dropped her, he was so surprised. He had been called many things before, but 'prince' had never been one of them.

"Erm, no?"

"Then an angel?"

Raylight sweatdropped, "Just go back to sleep. I have something to do that you shouldn't see."

Amee nodded slightly, before closing her eyes. Raylight made sure her ears were covered before telling his Flygon, "Destroy this place. Hyper Beam."

The rumbling sound of destruction haunted Lilycove that night.

XXX

Alex and Sulph stared in amazement at the chamber they had suddenly found themselves in. It was as if time had stopped. The air hung chilly and frozen. Nothing moved except their own chests as they breathed.

"If I wasn't so disgusted, I'd be in awe," Sulphur murmured softly.

"It would've been beautiful," Alex agreed.

Complex machines lined the walls but the center of the room seemed to glow. Light streamed down from an unknown source and lit up the room. Everything bathed in the silvery glow.

"What is it...for?" Sulphur couldn't help but ask.

Alex shook her head, "I don't know exactly, but it feels important. I _do _know, however, that we probably shouldn't mess with it. It could be some time travel thing."

**Aaaand, done. This is probably the biggest piece of the plot line we'll see in a while, if not the whole story. Next chapter will be back to battles and the tournament, so stay tuned!**

**Which reminds me, I apologize to all who have lost/will lose! I'm seriously contemplating if I should create OCs so that **_**they**_** lose instead of your characters, but then I wouldn't get anywhere, would I? ^_^;**

**This chapter has choppy scenes. There wasn't much to write. I was basically concluding this part...**

**Sorry if I didn't portray your characters correctly (mainly Sulphur. I'm kind of lost with her...)! Tell me so I can fix them up.**

**I'm in a good mood as I'm writing this, as you can tell with the increase of humor in this chapter. At the same time, I'm also irritated with FF. They're having a lot of glitches these days, mainly with the review system...**

**Who can guess what that super awesome fire attack that the Chimera uses is? Virtual cookies for all who can guess that! XD**

**Still on the topic of romance, I know I need to introduce the characters more so you can get to know them. I'm working on it, so bear with me. In the meantime, don't hesitate to send in pairings you like/hate!**

**Note to Kasuchi, Koichi- You'll see more of Kane soon. Not too much flirting though, partly because I want to find pairings first, and then partly because I suck at that stuff. Feel free to criticize.**

**Favorite character is...still Riley with 4 votes! Keep submitting them!**

**...I had something to tell you guys but I forgot it. Who do you want to see in a battle? I've got Zailia vs. Kane and someone else...I forgot that too. (Why didn't I write it down...?) Well, I'll get to them soon, but I've got next chapter planned out, so wait a bit.**

**Oh, yeah! I'm going to be switching around the summary a lot to attract more people, so I hope you don't get too confused.**

**Credits**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Riley- Mewk**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**(Next chapter, we'll be having different characters for a while.)**


	11. Rhythm of Battle

**Disclaimer- Really now. You'd expect that people would read the previous disclaimers.**

Xavier absentmindedly tapped his feet against the floor as he lounged in the Pokemon Center, listening to music. It was early morning and he was bored.

Around him, his neighbors were getting fed up with hearing the annoying beat of his favorite song.

Someone finally snapped, turning to Xavier, "Can you _please_ stop that?"

Xavier jumped a bit, startled, before his gaze rested on the boy in front of him. He blinked, unable to tell if this formally dressed boy was real or not. It's not every day that you're yelled at by a guy in a suit. He even had a black hat with a white feather sticking out of it.

"Are you deaf? Stop tapping your feet," he demanded.

Xavier stopped. Eyes still on the boy, he asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Quinn Pierce. You don't need to remember it since we will probably never see each other again," he said, his interest already wavering since Xavier had ceased his tapping.

"Wait! I'll see you if you're participating in the tournament!" Xavier said abruptly.

Quinn froze, "How did someone as obnoxious as you get into the competition?"

Xavier grinned, "I'm awesome like that. See? I have all the badges of both Hoenn and Kanto!"

He pulled out his badge cases and opened them, revealing two sets of shining badges.

"Not bad," Quinn admitted, "But I've gotten the badges of Johto, Kanto, _and_ beaten their Elite Four."

Xavier's jaw dropped, "You're the champ! Cool!"

Quinn sweatdropped, "No, not exactly. I lost to the champions."

"So? I'd love to have a battle with someone who beat the Elite Four!" the other boy yelled enthusiastically.

"You really shouldn't talk about that so loudly," a male voice said.

"Someone might just decide to steal your Pokemon," another one, this time female, added.

Smoke poured into the Pokemon Center just as the lights flickered out.

"What's happening!?" Several of the trainers cried out in shock.

Quinn snarled. Whoever was messing with them was going to pay. No one messed with Quinn Pierce, legendary trainer of Ever Grande City.

"Teach them a lesson, Zangoo-" he stopped short as his hand never made contact with a Pokeball. He paled considerably, though no one could see through the Smokescreen, and cursed.

_Steal your Pokemon_. The words rang loudly in Quinn's head and he could only wonder why he didn't realize it before. Someone was stealing the Pokemon.

"Hurry! Protect your Pokemon! They'll take them!" he warned the other trainers, not wanting to be outdone by the thugs, whoever they might be.

"Quinn!" he heard Xavier yell, "They're getting away!"

Gritting his teeth, Quinn threw his arms out in front of him and tried to find the door.

Finding it, he flung it open and stumbled out, trying desperately to get the stinging smoke out of his eyes.

"Xavier?" he asked uncertainly, wondering if the redhead had followed him.

"Present," came the answer, though a bit choked.

Opening his turquoise colored eyes, Quinn scanned the skies for an escape vehicle. None, he concluded, meaning that they're getting away on foot.

"Come on!" he said, racing out of Lilycove.

"W-wait!" Xavier cried, sprinting so that he wouldn't be left behind.

"Stop right there!" Quinn demanded. The two getaways froze, slowly turning to face the pair.

The man sneered, "Oh, just a couple of kids. I thought it was someone dangerous like the Police."

He had sea green hair and had a large red 'R' on his shirt. The woman beside him was dressed similarly.

"Shut up! Go, Zangoose!" Quinn roared, before remembering that they had taken all his Pokemon.

"Aw," the woman cooed, "The itty bitty baby thinks he can fight. Well, he's wrong! Let's go, Biff!"

"It's Butch! I've told you a million times, Cassidy!"

A girl's voice surprised all of them as the villains attempted an escape, "Staraptor, use Brave Bird."

A black and white bird dove for the thieves. With a yell, the two were sent flying as the stolen Pokeballs fell to the ground.

"All right!" Xavier exclaimed, rushing to claim his Pokemon. Then he turned around to see who had saved him. He was slightly embarrassed when he saw that he was rescued by a girl even younger than him.

"Thanks! What's your name?" Xavier asked, not wanting to be rude.

The girl had dark blonde hair down to her mid back. Her bangs covered one of her eyes, however, and but brought out the turquoise of the other one.

"Lindsay."

"Hi, Lindsay! I'm Xavier and that's Quinn," Xavier grinned cheerfully.

Quinn groaned, "Shut up, and help me get these Pokeballs back to the Pokemon Center."

"Lindsay, you really helped us back there," Xavier told her after a long, tiring hour of tracking down trainers.

The blonde girl blushed, "It was nothing. You guys looked like you were in trouble."

It was Xavier's turn to color, "W-well, see you around. It's my turn to battle next. Wish me luck!"

XXX

"We're back, today, with even more thrilling battles!" the announcer announced over the roaring crowd, "I present Xavier Omnik of Mossdeep City and Stark Lightning from Twinleaf!"

Xavier practically skipped to his trainer's box, while Stark preferred to continue walking.

"Let the battle begin!"

"I choose Sceptile!" Stark yelled.

Xavier turned on his music, "Hop to it, Ninjask!"

The bug Pokemon shot out of its Pokeball at the same time that the Sceptile landed on the stage. The crowd cheered in approval. Ninjask had the type advantage, but Sceptile looked more intimidating.

"Niiiiiinjask," the bug Pokemon buzzed.

"Slash, Ninjask, to the second beat!" Xavier commanded confidently.

The Ninjask dove towards the Sceptile, claws extended. It waited a bit before it struck its opponent.

"Sceptile, use Night Slash to block it. Then use Double Kick while it's distracted!" Stark yelled.

"Gust to the chorus," Xavier cried, turning up the volume of his miniature radio. The music blared loudly, echoing across the stadium.

Ninjask whipped up a wild breeze and flung it at the Scepille, keeping the breeze to the rhythm of the music's chorus.

"Now, use speed to get around the Sceptile and Bug Bite it!"

The bug Pokemon seemed to disappear, but Sceptile was ready for it. It whirled around and kicked at the air, knowing that Ninjask would appear around there sooner or later.

Sure enough, the poor bug followed its orders to the letter and was sent flying through the air by a powerful kick.

"Ninjask, do it again, before the drums start!" The Ninjask seemed to move faster than ever, zooming through the air too quickly for Sceptile to turn. A super-effective bite in the neck made the grass Pokemon cry out in painful agony.

Sceptile fell to the ground with a hollow thud, the swirling pattern in it eyes telling them that it had fainted.

"Return, Sceptile," Stark said before raising his voice, "Dragonite! Finish it!"

The dragon Pokemon roared and took off, showing off the great difference between their sizes.

"Ninjask, use X-scissor every second beat!" Xavier commanded, jumping up and down.

A series of X-scissor attacks shot towards the Dragonite.

"Sweep it away with Sandstorm," Stark yelled confidently. The Ninjask's attacks were disposed of before they even came close to the dragon.

"Slam, Dragonite!"

The Ninjask stood no chance in the Sandstorm. Struggling to see, never mind dodge, it was a sitting duck for its opponent to demolish.

"Return, Ninjask. Take a rest," Xavier recalled his Pokemon, "Now, prepare to dance, Milotic!"

The beautiful eel cried out at his music choice. Xavier rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Oh, sorry!"

He switched it to something softer, almost a lullaby.

"Now, Aqua Tail!"

Milotic's sleek form prevented the sandstorm to hold it back much and had almost no trouble slamming a glowing blue tail into Dragonite's shoulder.

"Dragonite! Agility and then Outrage!" Stark ordered.

"Dodge it by following the rhythm," Xavier countered quickly.

The Milotic waved slightly, looking around for the opponent. Then, the music quickened and the eel dove 5 feet to the left as Dragonite lunged for the space it had previously occupied.

Growling, the dragon dove again. As if dancing, Milotic spun out of the way and spiraled behind Dragonite. A Hydro Pump slammed into the dragon as the song grew louder and faster.

The Dragonite, not wanting to be outdone, shot a Hyper Beam at Milotic even before Stark ordered anything. His trainer had no objections, though, because it hit its mark dead on.

Seeing his Pokemon slightly weakened, Xavier decided that some support would be useful, "Aqua Ring!"

Stark saw a weakness and took it, "While it's concentrating, Thunder Punch!"

The Milotic glowed blue as it called on the power to heal itself. Dragonite dove, thunder clutched tightly in its fist. It hesitated only to feel the effects of its last attack.

"Wrap, Milotic!"

As the electricity shocked it, the eel managed to wrap itself around the Dragonite's arm.

"Now, Avalanche!"

A downpour of icy boulders fell on both Pokemon, kicking up dust that covered the field.

The announcer groaned inwardly, from both the suspense and the aspect of having to clear the stadium once again after the day.

"And the winner is..."

**Sorry this chapter took so long. I was stuck on the battle a lot, which was why it was kind of bad. That, and I know practically nothing of music. ^_^;**

**Sorry also for the lack of romance. Even when I say I'm going to do it, I find some reason to put it off for later. I still don't have many pairings (cough, none at all) so I'm pretty much going to do what I think is interesting. Sorry if they're odd. I'll notify all the owners, though.**

**Any requests for battles? Anyone you'd like to see more of?**

**To Koichi- Oh, shoot! I just realized that Kane wasn't in this chapter! It's too late to change it, so I promise he'll be in the next chapter!**

**To LastPrelude (if you're still reading this)- Is there any song that Xavier particularly likes to listen to? Any advice for his battles?**

**Favorite character is Riley with 6 votes. So many people like him. Runner-up is Ziri with 4 votes.**

**Credits**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Stark- Mewk**


	12. Frantic

**Disclaimer- Lalala. Nothing's changed.**

"...And the winner is..."

When the dust cleared, everyone could clearly see both Pokemon struggling to their feet. Soon enough, they both gave up and collapsed on the floor.

"Both Pokemon have been knocked out! Each trainer only has one Pokemon left!" The announcer said as the audience exploded into applause.

Xavier met his Stark's eyes and flashed his opponent a confident grin. He changed the lullaby to a loud and jumpy one, "Rock on, Gallade!"

"Charizard! Fly," Stark took the first move.

The fire Pokemon flew straight up out of Gallade's attack range. As soon as it was high enough, Charizard looked down, trying to find an opening to attack.

"Gallade, use Double Team."

The Blade Pokemon multiplied again and again until there was an army of identical Psychic Pokemon. Charizard couldn't find the actual Gallade. It looked around wildly in confusion.

"Psycho Cut!"

The real Gallade teleported above the Charizard, blades extended. One slash sent Charizard flying to the left, and as it fell to the ground, it teleported back into the massive army.

"Wipe 'em out, Charizard. Use Heat Wave!" Stark thought quickly.

Picking itself up, Charizard roared. The temperature rose and the sun seemed to shine harder than ever. All at once, the fake Gallades disappeared, leaving a completely cleared stage.

"Wher-? No! Charizard, behind you!" Stark yelled frantically.

The real Gallade had teleported behind the fire Pokemon once again and was beginning to attack. The Night Slash hit the Charizard's skull, causing it to roar in pain and fall backwards, unconscious.

"Mossdeep's Xavier Omnik wins!"

XXX

Xavier left the Contest Hall with a bounce in his step. Winning a hard battle did that to you.

"Quinn! See, I won!"

The brown haired boy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah."

"I'll kick your butt in this tournament!"

"Whatever lets you sleep at night."

"Now you have to treat me to lunch!" Xavier cheered with a huge grin.

Quinn did a double take, "What? Now when did I agree to that?"

Xavier didn't even falter, "You didn't. Let's take Lindsay, too. We owe her."

He went to fetch the blonde haired girl, leaving Quinn to run after him, grumbling about unfair deals.

Lindsay Skies was sitting near the tall grass, watching the young wild Pokemon play with each other. She was enjoying the quiet until a certain someone began yelling.

"Yo, Lindsay! Quinn's paying for lunch!" the lively boy grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her back to where Quinn had stopped to catch his breath, "Let's go to some place expensive!"

XXX

Kane Yaiba strolled along the beach. Night had fallen, but he was busy thinking about the tournament.

A lot of strong trainers had all gathered; many of them stronger than him. He would need a good, flawless strategy to win.

A yellow blur attracted his attention. In actuality, it had been Markus Pearl, his opponent from earlier, rushing past him calling, "Alessandra! Where are you, Alex?"

Kane blinked.

"Markus! Is something wrong?"

The boy's blonde hair was wild. Well, wilder than usual. His blue eyes were wide in panic, as if he was fearing the worse.

"Can't...can't find...Alex...!" Markus gasped, trying to talk and catch his breath at the same time, "Checked every...where! Room, Pokemon Center, stores-!"

"Oh! You mean that pretty brown haired girl," Kane said as the name finally clicked.

Markus glared at the word 'pretty.'

"Er, I'm pretty sure she's just wandering around...?" the black haired male said, sweatdropping.

Markus groaned, "Never mind. I'll...go look by myself."

He turned to leave, but Kane grabbed his shoulder, "No, no! I wouldn't turn my back on a fair maiden in distress! Let me help you."

Markus glared again, before nodding slightly and heading back to town.

Kane sighed inaudibly. So much for thinking up strategies. At least the Alex girl was attractive.

He saw something move out of the corner of his right eye. Something—no, wait—someone emerged from the deep, murky water. It was followed by two other figures.

Kane's heart quickened and he motioned for his Lucario and Scizor to come closer, but stay in the shadows.

"Raylight! Is she okay?" The second figure asked, running to catch up with the first one.

"She's fine," came the answer, so quiet that Kane almost missed it.

The third person ran after them, as if to not get left behind, "Amee—that's her name, right?—do you know why they kidnapped you?"

The lump in Raylight's arms stirred, "They were mean to Amee. They kept saying that they would put Amee to sleep for a very long time."

Kane relaxed as his eyes made out the figures of three contestants.

"Hey!" he called out to them, "Have you seen a girl with long dark brown hair? She has brown eyes and a blue headband."

Raylight shook his head before turning to the other two, "Ziri? Riley?"

"Brown hair in a blue headband? Oh, you mean Alex! I was talking to her the other day. Why? Is she missing?" Ziri asked.

"Alex?" Riley looked like he was thinking hard, "I think...wasn't she with that other girl? Um, Sulphur or something?"

Before any of them could say anything else, Kane had dashed off to find this 'Sulphur.'

"Markus! Markus!"

The blonde haired boy whirled around to see Kane racing at top-speed towards him.

"Someone saw her with a girl called Sulphur!" he shouted.

Markus pursed his lips, "You know, if I think about it, I haven't seen Sulph for a while either."

"You know her?" Kane asked.

"Yeah. Nice girl, if a little shy."

The two saw a young couple taking an evening walk.

"Hey! Have you seen a girl with long brown hair and a girl with light brown hair?" Markus called out to them, dashing up to the pair.

The boy shrugged, "Dude, there are a lot of chicks like that."

His girlfriend elbowed him, "But there were those two girls at the Contest Hall."

"I don't pay much attention to other girls. Why should I, when I have you?" the male smirked knowingly. The girl smiled back and embraced him.

Markus looked away from the couple and edged away in the direction of the Contest Hall. At least they had gotten a small lead.

**I'm staring in horror at the bit of romance I just wrote. But I finally did it! I feel accomplished.**

**I'm finding weekdays a bit busy though. I'll try to update every day, but don't freak if I miss a day every so often.**

**Any people want to something to happen in this fic? Suggestions for the future?**

**To Maecenas- Thanks for the idea! I think I might do that. If I never get to it, I'll tell you now that it certainly made me laugh.**

**To Koichi- I finally did it! Kane's in this chapter! And if I follow with my train of thought, he'll be in the next chapter, too.**

**To Legendary Fairy- And Markus is in here too. He has another use!**

**I'm thanking all my reviewers again. Thanks to all you guys who said good things about my writing, and encouraged me even when I thought the quality was bad.**

**Still looking for romance tips/requests.**

**Credits**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Riley and Stark- Mewk**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Kane- Kasuchi, Koichi**

**Alex and Markus- Legendary Fairy**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**(Long list of cast today. Aren't I wonderful? Still apologizing to unused OC owners)**


	13. Disappearance

**Disclaimer-...grumbles...don't own anything...**

Sulphur and Alex closed the doors behind them, gazing at the stadium in slight distaste. It was as empty as when they first entered it, but now it seemed darker, and less innocent.

"I wonder what other secrets this tournament hides," Sulphur mumbled.

Alex sighed, agreeing with her, "Yeah. I mean, a kidnapping and a weird room? Did you feel that chill in there? We were in there for what? 5 minutes? And I was freaking out."

The doors to the stadium flung opened, revealing a disheveled blonde boy.

"Oh, Markus! What happened to you?" Alex asked, concerned. The boy's hair looked as if it had not been cared for for days. His clothes were wrinkled and he looks like he had missed several days of sleep. At sight of Alex, he sighed in relief and proceeded to slump to the floor. Kane looked down from behind him, slightly worried.

"Erm," Sulphur looked almost embarrassed to be there as Alex ran to help her friend, "I'll be...going..."

Kane stopped her by grabbing her arm, "No, you don't. You are going to stay here and tell us where the hell you were."** (A/N: Excuse the language, but he's worried.)**

"Um, here? Why are you looking for us?" Sulphur replied nervously, edging away from the boy slowly.

Kane shouted, "Why? Because you've been missing for almost 2 weeks! You never went home, you never went outside, and no one ever saw you! Do you know how worried everyone is?"

Alex looked up from Markus, "What do you mean? I swear, we were only gone for a couple of minutes."

"The preliminaries are over," Kane said in a low, dangerous voice, "The tag battles are beginning tomorrow. Tell me that doesn't happen in just a couple of minutes."

Alex and Sulph looked at each other in complete confusion, "But that doesn't make sense, unless..."

They exchanged horrified glances.

"Unless what?" Markus murmured from his spot in Alex's lap.

"Unless that machine we saw stopped time in that room," Sulphur finished. An awkward silence fell on the group.

Surprisingly, it was Markus who broke it.

"Alex," he croaked, his voice a bit hoarse, "Where is the room?"

"Oh, it's just over ther-What happened to it, Sulph?" Alex stared at the spot where the door had appeared to them two weeks ago.

Sulphur looked over, "It was right there a moment ago."

The door had disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence. The wall was undented, unmarked.

Alex sweatdropped, "I swear it was there. I'm not crazy, am I Sulph?"

"No, you aren't, because I'd be crazy, too, if you were."

Kane stared at the wall and got up to examine it. Running a finger over the flawless sheet rock, he announced, "It's real."

Markus sighed, and sat up, "We should go now, and tell everyone that you guys are back. They'll be relieved."

XXX

Riley and Ziri caught up with Raylight on the beach. The former hid a smile at the sight of a young girl clinging to the boy's leg.

"News! Raylight, Markus says that they found the two girls," Riley informed him.

The little girl looked up at him with big brown eyes, "Yay!"

Raylight grimaced, "I'll be there."

He started to walk away, but the girl slowed him down considerably, "Amee, get off."

"No! The girl pouted and looked up at him, tears threatening to overflow.

Raylight sighed, wondering why he put up with this. He picked up the brown haired girl and put her on his shoulders. At least now it would be easier to walk.

"Where were they?" he called out to Kane and Markus. There were two girls with them. One, who he suspected to be Alessandra, had waist long dark brown hair. She wore a blue head band and had brown eyes. The other girl must have been Sulphur, then. She had light brown hair in a ponytail to her elbows. Her eyes were a pale green. "These are the trouble makers?"

"We are not trouble makers," Alex yelled defensively, lightly hitting him on the arm.

Kane sighed inwardly, "Hard to believe?"

"You disappeared for two weeks," Raylight remarked drily.

Sulphur matched his tone exactly, "So we've heard."

The others edged away as the two engaged in a silent glaring contest. Amee was the only one brave enough to interrupt them. Probably because she still had her childhood innocence.

"Down!" she whined, tugging on Raylight's black hair. The boy gritted his teeth, but swallowed his pride and set the girl gently on the ground.

"She's so cute!" Alex exclaimed, "Is she your little sister?"

Raylight directed his glare at the girl, "No."

Riley, who had followed Raylight and had heard Alex's outburst, laughed, "That's Amee. She started following him two weeks ago, when we rescued her."

"_I_ rescued her," Raylight corrected, "You and Ziri fainted."

Riley colored slightly, "Same difference."

"Where were they?" Raylight asked Kane and Markus, returning to the previous topic to avoid questions.

"We're right here!" Alex protested.

Sulpher voiced her own complaints, too, "So now you're too good to ask us yourself?!"

Needless to say, Raylight ignored them both.

"They were in a time-stop machine," Kane said expressionlessly. Riley gave the two girls a disbelieving look.

Raylight looked thoughtful, "I wonder if that ties in with Amee's kidnapping?"

"Hm?" Riley asked.

"Oh, nothing," came the distant reply. Riley frowned. The boy was on to something. Now, to figure out what...

XXX

Luther was lying outside, watching the Wingull fly through the sky. An Espeon was curled on his chest, relaxing and on the verge of sleep. He was also about to enter the realms of dreams when something pink and blurry entered his vision. He opened his hazel eyes and stared at it in confusion. Then he blinked, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

A pink Pokemon floated in front of him, looking curious.

"Mew," it said.

**Shorter than usual, I know. I wanted that to be a cliffhanger, though. Surprising chapter, huh? First the time stop thing, and now a mysterious pink Pokemon...**

**Sorry for the time skip. It was needed to actually have enough people for Stage 3. Don't worry, everyone. All the OCs left passed against imaginary opponents. I also wanted to actually advance more in the tournament, since everything else was just battles. Nothing interesting, so it works out both ways.**

**To Koichi- There are a lot of these 'To Koichi' things, aren't there? But this one is another apology. Sorry if Kane seemed OOC, but you'd act differently if you're really worried. Anyone would be worried if someone disappeared for two weeks.**

**Favorite characters are the same. I'll be introducing more OCs, now, so I encourage you to send in more favorites, even if you've already voted. Choose someone else too!**

**It'd help me immensely if you told me if you wanted anything to happen. Any scenes you'd like to see? Tell me, and I'll see if I can fit it in.**

**Also, what do you think will happen? I left a cliffie for a reason, other than to keep the suspense!**

**Credits**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**Alex and Markus- Legendary Fairy**

**Kane- Kasuchi, Koichi**

**Ziri- screamingedge (update your story soon, if you read this!)**

**Riley- Mewk**

**Luther- Fallen Vanguard (There he is!)**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Random Question, just because I'm curious: What's your favorite color? Why?**


	14. To Be Fooled

**Disclaimer- Nothing.**

Luther blinked, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The pink Pokemon had declared itself as a Mew, but wasn't Mew a bit less...distorted? The Pokemon resembled some of the pictures of the legendary, but it still looked a bit off. Luther shrugged it off, though. Not many of the artists had actually laid eyes on Mew. None of them, in fact.

"Mew!" it cried out joyously, grabbing on to a chunk of Luther's dark brown hair and dragging him along towards one of the routes that led to Fortree.

"Hey!" he protested as he was pulled along, "L-let go of me!"

Several trainers looked at him strangely, but whether they recognized the odd Pokemon was lost on Luther.

Eventually, they stumbled upon a clearing where a young girl with dull red hair was training with a Pichu.

"Ah!" the girl exclaimed when she noticed the pair. She ran over, "There you are, Putty! You didn't bother the poor trainer, did you?"

Luther was speechless for a moment. When he finally found his voice, he managed to say, "Y-you own...the Mew?"

The girl looked at him strangely, before looking back at her Pokemon. Realization dawned her, "Oh! Mew? Don't be silly. I've never laid eyes on Mew."

"But the..." Luther trailed off as the Mew melted into a pile of goo.

"Ditto," it said. Suddenly, Luther felt extremely silly.

The most intelligent thing he could say was, "It's a Ditto," which isn't very intelligent at all. That didn't stop him.

"It's a Ditto."

"Hm? Yes. My Ditto enjoys turning into other Pokemon to see if it can fool people. Mew is one of its favorites, but it's never seen one. That's why they always look so funny," the girl grinned sheepishly, "By the way, my name's Margaret. Call me Marge, though."

"Fair enough. Luther Johnson. Since you're training, I take it you're in the tournament?" Luther said.

Marge nodded, "Yeah. You, too?"

"Yup, so now let's have a battle. One-on-one?"

"Now? Um, okay. I choose Scamp," Marge said, attempting a fierce tone, yet failing miserably. The Pichu that had perched itself on her shoulder scurried off into its battle stance. It looked glared at Luther and looked...not intimidating. Clutched in its little paws was a stone that it held on to like it was the only thing connecting it to this world.

"Bandit, let's go!" An Espeon sprang out of the thrown Pokeball and landed gracefully on the ground, keeping on the balls of its feet.

"Alright, Scamp, begin with Toxic!"

Luther gaped at the little mouse as poisonous bubbles began to surround Bandit. Several of them hit the Espeon, causing it to wince.

"Fine, Bandit, use Trump Card!"

Even in the poison, the Espeon charged at the Pichu and rammed into Scamp. The attack only succeeded in angering the Pichu, as it chattered back in a venomous tone.

"Scamp, Present."

The Pichu grinned, almost evilly, and dug out a wrapped gift. It flung it at Bandit and scurried out of range. Curious, the Espeon pawed at the thing. Luther groaned, "Get away from there!"

Too late. It exploded and sent Espeon flying.

Great, Luther thought inwardly, I get pitted against a Pichu and it's the one that knows wacky moves. What next?

"Finish it with Volt Tackle!" Marge commanded.

Luther flinched as Bandit collapsed in a heap at his feet.

"Sorry, but you shouldn't underestimate my Pichu!" Marge yelled over her shoulder as she dashed off, making sure to scoop up her Ditto as she made her exit.

XXX

A blonde haired male slumped against a door in Lilycove. He raised a limp fist to try and knock, but only made a dull thumping sound. Fortunately, this was enough. The door swung open just as the boy blacked out.

XXX

Ferk woke up in a bed.

Wait, he thought to himself, a bed?

He opened his eyes reluctantly and found himself staring at a ceiling. A ceiling must mean he was in a house, which meant someone had rescued him!

Ferk grabbed the corner of the bed for support and forced himself into a sitting position. The room was small, but it was plainly a guy's bedroom. Even in all its cleanliness, a masculine scent lingered in the air.

Someone walked in. Someone very odd, Ferk observed. As if he was someone who should be saying that.

"Oh, you're up? Finally. Gave me quite a fright, fainting like that at my feet. I'm Mycroft. Nice to meet you," Mycroft extended a hand which Ferk accepted.

Mycroft had blue-gray hair and violet eyes. Tall and thin, he completed his refined look with a top hat with a matching suit. He even wore a rose corsage!

"Ferk Ramalo, Pokemon Extraordinaire! At your service!" Ferk chirped, beaming.

Mycroft sweatdropped, "Do I get an explanation as to why you're here?"

"Because you brought me here?"

The man groaned, "No. Why did you faint?"

Ferk nodded in understanding, "You see, I was studying a wild Nidorino. It was shiny, see? Apparently, it was also very vicious. It poisoned me and I dragged myself back to Lilycove for help. I'm from the Orange Islands, so I'm not native here. I'm actually here for the tournament."

Mycroft raised an eyebrow, "Really? Me, too. You're a trainer?"

"Yup. Actually, I'm a researcher, but trainer works just as well," Ferk grinned.

Mycroft raised an eyebrow, "A researcher? What do you research?"

"Thought you'd never ask, my friend. I research unique Pokemon, like those oddly colored Pokemon that you see. There are also the Pokemon with odd evolutions, like Slowpokes. Slowpokes are so interesting. What goes on in their small little brains? And their evolution with the Shellder. It's all amazing, really," Ferk said, entranced by the thought of all the Slowpoke.

"You're rambling," Mycroft commented. Ferk looked at him as a long silence passed between them. It was interrupted by a Pokemon escaping from one of the blonde's Pokeballs.

"Lickilicky!" it said, unrolling its large tongue and licking its trainer affectionately.

"Gah!" Ferk cried, "Lickilicky!"

The pink Pokemon made a gurgling sound that was unmistakably laughter.

XXX

Alex and Sulphur were sitting in the Pokemon Center, hunched over the Tournament Rule Book. Just earlier, they had been allowed to skip the Preliminaries because of their untimely disappearance. They had been relieved. Now, however, they were frantically memorizing the rules of the Tag Battle stage.

"Tag Battles, pg. 18," Alex announced after scanning the Table of Contents. Sulphur hurriedly flipped through the pages. At the eighteenth page, she held the book up and yelled triumphantly, "Ah-ha! Here it is!"

_Tag Battle_

_The tag battle stage comes directly after the preliminaries. You are randomly paired up with another contestant and pitted against a different team. The objective of this stage is to knock out one of the opponents' Pokemon before one of your own can faint. If one of your Pokemon faint, you lose._

_You must choose the Pokemon you will use before you find out who your partner and opponents are. There are no substitutions. If your Pokemon is knocked out at the same time as your opponent's, then the next team to knock out the other Pokemon wins. If by some twisted coincidence those two Pokemon are knocked out at the same time, then the match ends in a draw. Both trainers are disqualified in a draw._

**So the Tag Battles start.**

**XD I wonder how many people I tricked into thinking that Mew had an important part. Sorry if I mislead you. Maybe I should put humor as a category, what with what I've been writhing lately. Especially since I crack up at the slightest cheesiness. ^_^;**

**However, I must say that I laughed while writing the Ditto part.**

**Favorite Character is STILL Riley with 6 votes. Runner-up is Kane, with 5 votes. Someone's catching up.**

**I introduced three new characters today, and went into more depth with the Tag Battles. They start tomorrow. I've got all the partners and opponents ready, and I must say that **_**some**_** things are going to be very interesting. I'm so evil to some of these characters.**

**Now, this is slightly relevant to the battles, but not for a while. It'll probably be in a later chapter. Who's your favorite Gym Leader/Elite 4 member/Champion?**

**Credits**

**Luther- Fallen Vanguard**

**Ferk and Marge- silentlysnowing**

**Mycroft- Maecenas (you were right about the Mew)**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**


	15. Gyarados Terror

**Disclaimer- How many of you guys hate these things?**

Zailia and Alex stood on one of the trainer platforms, the former glaring at the latter.

"I don't believe this. How are you my partner?" Zailia growled. Alex shrunk a little.

"W-well, they paired me up with you, so..." she trailed off, looking extremely uncomfortable. On the other side of the battlefield, Mycroft and Lindsay exchanged greetings.

"Hello there. I presume that you will be my partner? My name is Mycroft," he extended a hand.

"Yes. I'm Lindsay," the blonde-haired girl took his hand, before grabbing a Pokeball off her waist.

"The preliminary rounds are over!" the announcer yelled over the roar of the audience, "Today marks the start of the Tag Battle rounds. Let's hear it for the Red Corner, Lindsay Skies of Pallet Town and Mycroft Williamson of our very own Lilycove!"

He moved his hand to the right, "And in the Green Corner is Alessandra Cesarini of Twinleaf and Zailia Kage, also of Pallet."

"Remember, you are only allowed to use the Pokemon you submitted. Now, begin!"

Zailia moved first, "Lucario, you're up!"

"White, I choose you!" Alex yelled, releasing her Togekiss on to the battlefield.

Mycroft smirked, and sent out his Pokemon, "Gawain! It's time!"

"Chuck, heads up!" Lindsay followed in their leads.

A Lucario knelt in front of Zailia, while a Togekiss hovered in the air above them. A Gallade glared at the opponents, particularly the Lucario. In front of Lindsay was a cute little Pachirisu.

"Right, Chuck, use Spark on Togekiss!"

"White, Extremespeed!" Alex said, before Zailia elbowed her in the stomach.

"No! It's using Spark! Togekiss is going to get shocked!" she exclaimed as White dove into the electricity. Both Pokemon cried out in pain and shock.

"Its name is White!" Alex snapped back, finally tired of Zailia's coldness.

"Whatever. Lucario, use Aura Sphere!"

"You, too, White."

Both Pokemon formed their attacks and launched them simultaneously. The Aura Spheres traveled at an amazing speed that Chuck couldn't keep up with. They collided and created a large explosion.

"Chuck!" Lindsay yelled.

XXX

Kiriel sighed as he watched the ongoing tag battle. He would've done anything to stay in the tournament. He couldn't even tell himself that there was always next time, since he'd be 62 years old in the next tournament.

"You lost?" A girl with short brown hair asked beside him. Her hair was streaked with red and black dye to make up with having such a common hair color. She wore a blue guitar T-shirt and jeans. A black hat covered most of her head, and she wore several dog tags, Kiriel couldn't help but notice.

"And you are?" he raised an eyebrow as he avoided the question.

"I'm Katey O'Reily, the girl with the Glaceon."

Kiriel nodded, vaguely recognizing the girl from the other day. Her Glaceon had practically frozen half of Lilycove because someone had told it that it was weak. The cleanup crew had had to call in a horde of fire types. Kiriel still hadn't gotten all the mud stains out of the jeans he had worn that day.

"I remember. What are you doing here?"

"Watching the battles. Duh. It's a good way to know your opponents."

Kiriel nodded. She wasn't as stupid as she acted, then. "You're competing? Someone like you could be a good trainer?"

"Of course. Frostbite isn't just for destroying cities!" Katey said indignantly.

"Uh-huh."

"But of course, I don't really like battling. It's so boring. Contests add a special twist," Katey exclaimed.

A black haired boy in the couch next to them sneered, "Contests? Wimps turn to contests when they can't make it as a trainer."

Katey immediately colored and whirled on the trainer. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt and black jean shorts.

"Who are you to speak? Maybe you're a trainer because contests are too hard for you!"

"What are you talking about? I am Damien Green, Celadon's strongest trainer! I'll crush you!" Damien shot back hotly.

"Oh, yeah?" Kiriel could almost see the steam shooting out of the girl's ears, "You are on!"

The two raced outside, trying to beat the other. Kiriel sighed again. Should he make sure they didn't damage anything? Probably.

Groaning, he got up and followed them, albeit a bit slower.

When he reached them, the two had already gotten their Pokemon out and started.

"Zephyr!" Katey was yelling to her Dragonair, "Take him down! Use Dragonbreath!"

"Primeape, Thunderbolt!"

A greenish purple gas was shot from Dragonair's mouth. As the dangerous attack made contact with Primeape's face, the monkey let loose a charge of electricity that traveled up the Dragonbreath to hit Zephyr.

"Dragonaaaair!" it cried.

"Zephyr!" Katey shouted, worried, "Try a Dragon Rage!"

The Dragonair mustered up the strength to ram into the weakened Primeape, making sure to loop before slamming into the monkey.

"Primeape! Grab it and go for a Seismic Toss!"

Heeding its trainer's commands, Primeape took the hit while wrapping its arms around the neck of the serpent. After making sure it had a secure grip, Primeape jumped up using the powerful muscles in its legs. Flipping over, Primeape dove for the ground, letting go at the last second.

"Dra...naaair..." Zephyr murmured, unconscious.

"Okay. You win," Katey said, running down to her Dragonair.

"Of course," Damien smirked, "Coordinators are wimps."

Katey growled and glared at him, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then heads will roll! Go, Drago!"

Kiriel jumped up as a Gyrados sprang from the Pokeball.

"Holy- Katey, recall your Gyarados," he commanded.

"Go wild until that ungrateful brat apologizes," Katey called offhandedly.

Damien dove out of the way as Drago brought its tail down to crush him. The ground splintered upward, creating stone spikes. The Gyarados roared and Hyper Beamed the area, destroying many houses in the process.

"Argh! Call your monster off, Katey!" Damien cried, but to no avail. Katey was nowhere to be seen.

XXX

Artix watched the mayhem with interest from the air. He was perched on his Metagross, occasionally tossing the metal Pokemon apples, which it eagerly gobbled up, core and all.

He watched as the Gyarados's trainer, a young brown-haired girl, storm off towards the beach. Turning his attention back to the destruction, he couldn't help but notice all the innocent civilians that were being dragged into the attack. Surely the great water serpent wasn't going to hurt the humans intentionally, but accidents happen.

Sighing almost half-heartedly, he directed his Metagross to float towards the ocean where the girl had just disappeared to.

**Will Chuck be alright? Will Gyarados hurt anyone? Will Artix find Katey in time to save Lilycove?**

**Hehe, Artix is playing the hero again. I couldn't help but notice how I've neglected using certain characters that I introduced in the beginning. So, yes, I've used Kiriel in this chapter. See? He's still there, Karpil.**

**I chose the partners in the Tag Battles randomly (listed them all and crossed them off by counting down ten)...but then I used my awesome authoress powers and switched most of them around so I've actually only got 5 completely random teams. ^_^; Also, the team of Zailia and Alex was a request by Maecenas, so that's dedicated to him/her.**

**I got the color of the corners (for the tag battles) from my previous question about your favorite color. The first answers I got were red and green.**

**I was out of it today, and distracted a lot, so the writing quality might seem jumpy.**

**Favorite character is (still) Riley with seven votes. Runner up is the same, too, Kane with five votes. I encourage you to send in any changes of heart!**

**Any OCs submitted after this will not have a very major role, unless my muse comes up with a pairing or they are extremely interesting. They would be lucky to have a battle, or be mentioned in more than one chapter.**

**Today's poll is a tie-breaker from last chapter's.**

**Who do you like most out of:**

**Volkner**

**Lance**

**Cynthia**

**Winona**

**Steven**

**Flint**

**(This actually has something to do with the tournament. The winners (plural. There will be two of them) will be making a guest appearance, so vote now!**

**Credits**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Mycroft- Maecenas**

**Kiriel- Karpil**

**Katey- dejavu**

**Damien- Southern Jaguar94**

**Artix- Serpent's Ballet**

**(Large cast again today~! Rejoices at how much the unused OC pile has reduced in size.)**


	16. Revenge, and then Some

**Disclaimer- Moving on.**

The smoke cleared, and everyone could clearly see the Pachirisu standing there, a clueless expression on its face. It seemed unfazed.

"What?!" Zailia and Alex cried out simultaneously.

"How did it survive that without getting hurt?" the dark haired girl exclaimed.

Mycroft nodded in understanding, "I see. Alex and Zailia weren't in agreement, so their Pokemon weren't in sync. The two Aura Spheres were angled wrong and canceled each other out. This will be an easy win, if they continue like this."

"It's your fault!" Zailia accused, whirling to face her partner, "We would've won if you hadn't launched your stupid attack!"

"Me? You got in the way!" Alex shot back.

"No! Lucario's so much stronger than your Togekiss!" Zailia snapped.

Both Mycroft and Lindsay sweatdropped as they watched their opponents quarrel.

"Erm, Gawain. Use Focus Punch," Mycroft said, somewhat hesitantly.

The Gallade's attack went unnoticed by the arguing trainers and their Pokemon, who stood watching nervously. Gawain's punch sent the Lucario flying. Zailia's attention snapped back to the battle, but not before she said sharply, "Now look what you've down. If we lose, it's all your fault."

Fortunately, for Alex, Lucario stood up again to face the Gallade, albeit with a struggle.

Alex winced at the state Lucario was in. She knew what had to be done, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Truce?" she offered.

Zailia did not take it well.

"What? Why? Never!"

"It's the only way we can win this. We're not going anywhere yelling at each other like this," Alex said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"What would you know?"

"More than you!" Alex snapped, but softened her tone, "I'm older than you. I should know better. You want to win or not?"

Zailia huffed, "Fine. But _only_ this time!"

Mycroft nudged Lindsay softly from the other side of the battlefield, "Be prepared. It looks like they've sorted out their differences."

The two girls had turned back to the battlefield, determination burning in their eyes.

Lindsay nodded, "Chuck, Quick Attack and then Spark!"

The Pachirisu followed through, dashing towards the Togekiss with electricity flying from its fur.

"Be ready for it, White! Counter with Aura Sphere!" Alex nodded at Zailia, who smirked back.

"Lucario, Close Combat!"

When White finished making the Aura Sphere, Lucario ran up to it and aimed a powerful kick in its direction. The Aura Sphere was sent flying towards Chuck. The poor Pachirisu ran right into the attack and fainted.

"The Green Corner makes a miracle comeback and win!" the announcer yelled.

XXX

Artix looked around, but couldn't spot the brown haired girl. He gestured for Metagross to lower him into the sand.

"Where did she go?" he muttered to himself, beginning to walk along the shore.

He heard a flurry of footsteps behind him, and turned to see white-haired boy trying to catch up to him.

"Looking for Katey?" the boy panted.

Artix raised an eyebrow, "The Gyarados's trainer?"

The boy nodded, "I'm Kiriel. I wouldn't normally be here, but the Gyarados is getting worse."

"Then let's go," Artix said, resuming his search for the enraged girl.

Apparently, Katey wanted to make sure that it would take a while to get to her. Although she was easy to find, it was going to be a rough journey to reach her.

She had chosen to sit on a lily pad out in the middle of the ocean. Not only was it a lily pad in the middle of the ocean, it just had to be a Lotad. The fact that it was moving around at an alarmingly fast rate didn't help them any.

"Katey!" Artix yelled at her, trying to get her attention, "Call off your Gyarados!"

The girl either could not hear him, or did not want to hear him, as she didn't answer.

"If she won't answer, use force," Kiriel suggested, "You've got a Pokemon. Use it."

Metagross hovered behind Artix, ready to use its Psychic powers to assist its trainer.

Artix bit his lip, "I've thought about that, but it might startle her or the Lotad. She might fall off. The ocean is treacherous this time of year. Who knows what wild Pokemon might snatch her up?"

He eyed Kiriel, "You don't have any water types on you, do you?"

Kiriel shook his head, "No. Don't you?"

Artix turned his gaze towards Katey again, "Say, you know how to swim, right?"

Several minutes later, Kiriel was in the water, soaked, and swimming towards Katey. He turned to glare at Artix, "And why aren't you here with me?"

"Well, I didn't feel like getting wet. Look, she's getting away."

Kiriel growled, but still turned away to see Katey speeding to the north. It just so happened that she swam on top of a current that was heading west, bringing her even further from the shore. Groaning, Kiriel wondered what had possessed him to chase after Artix. Meanwhile, the Gyarados was probably eating up little children.

"Katey!" Kiriel shouted, deciding that the quickest way to get out of the water was to get his mission over and done with, "You listen to me! You are going to go back to Lilycove and get that overgrown fish of yours to leave the people alone."

Katey cocked her head slightly to the side as she gazed towards the horizon. She wondered when they would leave her alone.

Why wouldn't they leave her alone? She wondered. Maybe because the town behind them was probably being destroyed at the moment.

"Boys," she muttered under her breath in annoyance. A _smart_ trainer would just defeat the Gyarados. Not that Drago would be defeated by coordinator-haters.

"Are you ignoring me?" Kiriel yelled for the second time, getting irritated. Who cares if a Pokemon knocked her into the water? He was in it and still fine, wasn't he?

Kiriel fished out a Pokeball from his belt, "Avia, you get her attention!"

The Staravia squawked in understanding and knocked the girl off the Lotad with a Quick Attack.

"Gack!" Katey cried as she fell with a splash into the cold water. She flailed around a bit, emitting several inhumane curses and splutters, before sticking her head up to glare at Kiriel, "What was that for?"

The white-haired boy shrugged the best he could while treading water.

"Come back here, brat!" Katey yelled, swimming quickly towards Kiriel. The boy widened his eyes slightly as he realized the girl's intentions.

"Avia, help me out!" The bird cawed, before diving towards its trainer. Kiriel grabbed on to its leg and the Staravia dragged him back to shore and out of Katey's clutches.

"Good job, Kiriel," Artix praised him with a smile. Growling, Kiriel spat water on him, before moving behind Artix as Katey got out.

"Was there a reason for that?" she asked icily, squeezing the water out of her hair and clothes.

"Well, your Gyarados..."

XXX

Zailia walked out of the Contest Hall in a relatively happy mood. She took one look around and sweatdropped. What in the world...?

A Gyarados was curled up in the middle of the city, its body weaved in between large buildings. There was quite a bit of rubble on the ground, but no corpses, to her slight relief. The Gyarados's trainer didn't seem to be near, but Zailia spotted something twitch underneath its tail.

She walked over to it, not exactly in a rush, and pulled out a boy with black hair. He groaned as Zailia dropped him on to the ground in a heap.

"I'm saved," was one of the coherent mumbles she heard.

The boy looked up at Zailia. "Who're you?"

"Me? Zailia Kage. Is this your Gyarados?"

The boy jumped up, "No. That girl—Katey, was it?—let her stupid contest Pokemon attack me! Psh, I'm perfectly fine! Weak contest Pokemon are no match for me, the awesome Damien Green of Celadon!"

His rant attracted the attention of a certain blue serpent, and the Gyarados cracked one eye open and glared.

Damien's confidence disappeared quickly and he cowered behind Zailia, "Erm, I'll leave this to you..."

**I wonder...how many Lucarios are in this fic? They seem to be extremely popular. What's your favorite Pokemon? Mine would be...well, it's a tie between quite a lot of them. (Slowpoke, Beedrill, Muk, Dunsparse, Houndoom, and Vulpix are the ones I remember right now.)**

**There also seem to be a lot of trainers with black hair and blue eyes...and cold personalities. (Fun to put them in awkward situations.)**

**For the guest appearances, Cynthia is a definite win, it seems like, with 10 votes, which kind of sucks for me because I don't know what she acts like except from the DPPt games. Volkner is next (8) and then Lance (7). However, my personal favorites are Steven and Morty (though he's not one of the choices.) No one liked Crasher Wake, which is good, because I don't like him anymore (read ****Punching Bag**** by HazyLeaf to find out why).**

**Favorite OCs have not changed. Still looking for suggestions. The next battle will be very interesting, because I am being very...mean...to certain characters.**

**Seems like Zailia and Alex have reached an understanding...sort of. I don't know if Zailia will be able to keep it that way.**

**To Karpil: Ha! Kiriel is semi-important in this battle!**

**Today's random vote will be...What's your favorite quote?**

**Credits**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Mycroft- Maecenas**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Artix- Serpent's Ballet**

**Katey- dejavu**

**Kiriel- Karpil**

**Damien- Southern Jaguar94**

**(Big cast! I'm getting better at this!)**


	17. Two Brothers

**Disclaimer- Yawns. Disclaimers are funny little things, aren't they?**

Ari stood in the trainer's lobby, waiting to be called. His battle was next, according to the note he had found on his desk.

Soft footsteps alerted him of someone's presence, and he turned.

After a suspenseful silence, Ari asked softly, "Why are you here?"

He turned away from the guest, disgusted by the familiar face.

The boy had black hair in a ponytail to his neck. The tips had been bleached white and streaked red.

Artix smirked, albeit hesitantly, "Can I not wish my younger brother good luck?"

"I do not need luck, _Artix_," Ari spat out his brother's name, "Leave before Togetic blasts you away."

Artix winced a bit, "You'll need it with that attitude."

Just then, the announcer spoke, "In the Red Corner, we have...Ari and Artix Harper!"

Ari froze, narrowing his pale lavender eyes.

"...You..." he said quietly, but Artix shrunk back from the hidden venom. Ari whirled around and stalked into the stadium room. Artix sighed in relief and followed his younger brother.

As the two entered, the audience wondered why the temperature had suddenly dropped so much.

"In the Green Corner, we have Ryden Stark and Gaz Summers!"

Three figures entered from the other side; a boy with unkempt brown hair and gentle violet eyes, another boy with sandy blonde hair streaked in blue and dark green eyes, and a Lucario.

Ari directed his icy glare at his opponents, intent on ignoring his brother for as long as possible.

"Let this battle begin!"

The blonde, Gaz, immediately tossed a Pokeball into the air, "Dusclops, it's go time!"

His partner, Ryden, did the same, "Wobbuffet, prepare for battle!"

"Seviper, come on out," Ari said, unleasing the snake on to the field.

When Artix failed to send out a Pokemon, Ari turned to him, annoyed.

"Are you going to fight or not?"

Artix, who had paled considerably, could only utter in complete disbelief, "You did _not_ just send out your Seviper."

Ari looked at him oddly, "What are you talking about? Of course I did."

"Send out your other Pokemon, Red Corner, or we'll have to disqualify you!" the announcer yelled.

Gulping and hoping for the best, Artix called out weakly, "Go, Zangoose!"

XXX

"Katey O'Reily, reporting for duty!" Katey chirped. Apparently, she was in a much better mood today. She had been rushing around and pretty much annoying everyone since the morning.

Kiriel sighed. Stupid Artix got away because of his battle, but he, Katey, and Damien were stuck with clean up duty.

He, of course, had complained about not having anything to do with the Gyarados, but to no avail.

To make matters worse, the owners of the destroyed house had insisted on them not using Pokemon for repairs, saying it would build 'discipline.' Katey got out of this rule, though, by putting on a pout and saying that she was a fragile little girl. Not that these tasks bothered the brown-haired girl that much. It was more that Damien was shooting glares at her every so often and passing rude remarks. Every time this happened, Katey's expression always darkened and her hand would move towards Drago's Pokeball. Damien would shrink a bit, and run away.

Kiriel sighed. Why was he always surrounded by idiots?

"This is too...heavy...!" Damien grunted, as he attempted to lift a chunk of rubble off the ground.

Katey smirked, an eviler look overcoming her innocent ones, "What's that I hear? Are trainers actually _weaker_ than coordinators?"

Immediately, Damien looked energized, "No way! I can lift this thing with one arm!"

Katey raised an eyebrow.

"W-well, I don't really feel like it right now..."

"Hm, I'm going to go drag all the furniture into the house. Too bad that your weak trainer body can't carry them," Katey said distantly, and Kiriel inwardly groaned. The girl had been doing this all morning. She hadn't had to lift a finger. All she did was provoke the boy and he'd do it al-

"I'll do it all in less than 30 minutes!" Damien cried and dashed off as soon as he removed the rocks.

"That's not very nice, Katey," Kiriel grumbled, wondering why he was standing up for the other boy.

"I'm not forcing him to do anything," Katey said innocently, "Is it really my fault if he's so easy to manipulate?"

Kiriel sighed, eyeing the girl warily. Then, he returned to the unpleasant task of hammering.

XXX

Zailia blinked twice. How did she manage to get herself into this one?

She shook her head, trying to see if the girl in front of her was a hallucination._ Surely_ such an odd girl didn't exist in real life.

She did.

Zailia tried to remember how this had happened. She had been innocently walking around Lilycove, attempting to forget yesterday's horrible battle...and the truce.

Suddenly, she was assaulted by some dog-girl! The crazy girl had appeared from nowhere yelling something about evil villains and justice.

The girl was short, only up to Zailia's shoulder. She had blue eyes and brown dog ears sticking out of her similarly colored hair. Zailia looked closer. Never mind; they were just tuffs of hair. The girl wore goggles on her head, and a yellow sleeveless T-shirt covered in paw prints. Her gloves and shoes looked like paws, and she had a tail, fake, Zailia noticed.

"Are you ignoring me!?" the girl demanded, interrupting Zailia's thoughts.

"Huh?" Maybe she could escape by pretending that she was foreign and didn't speak this language. Nah, she didn't know any other languages.

"You're coming with me! An evil and dark looking person such as yourself must be a villain," the girl announced, "I, Hyun Suns, shall turn you in to the police! Doesn't she look guilty, King?"

The Arcanine beside her barked in agreement.

"W-wait! I'm not an evil person!" Zailia cried desperately as Hyun dragged her down the street, King at her heels.

"Officer Jenny!" Hyun cried at the familiar blue haired policewoman, "Here's someone shady!"

Jenny took one look at Zailia and sighed.

"Hyun, she's not a villain. Didn't you watch TV last night? She's a trainer for the tournament. Come to think of it, aren't you competing too?" Jenny said patiently.

Hyun gasped and dropped Zailia on the floor, "Oops! Sorry! Why didn't you say something?"

"Oomph. I did," Zailia grumbled, not expecting anything she said to affect the girl.

"You did nothing wrong then? Good! Let me introduce myself properly. I am Hyun Suns, defender of Justice, the enemy of all thieves, and a true lover of dogs! No crimes are committed in my presence, and no villain gets away unharmed! Justice always prevails, and evil will always be punished!" Hyun laughed victoriously, causing Zailia to step back unconsciously. Maybe she should...leave before she became as crazy as this girl...

The Arcanine barked again, nearly making Zailia jump out of her skin, but the dog only leapt towards its master. It licked Hyun's face and the girl gave Zailia a thumbs-up.

Zailia twitched.

**The last two parts were kind of pointless, except for humor, but now you know Katey's not completely violent...just dangerous when she's angry. And I would've put more about Ari's battle, but I wanted it to be a cliff hanger...I know what you're thinking. (excuses, excuses)**

**Next chapter, I'll probably drag out the battle and have another cliffie. All the unused OCs will be introduced in the next two chapters. I promise.**

**If you haven't noticed yet, I enjoy torturing Ari. I'm not even done yet.**

**Fav. Characters are still the same. Not much to say today.**

**Here's a quote for you guys- 'Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.' It's one of my favs. ^_^**

**Today's vote is...What's your favorite Pokemon fanfic, other than this one because we all know it's amazing? XD**

**Credits**

**Ari and Artix- Serpent's Ballet**

**Ryden- 4mplify**

**Gaz- Dobblazar**

**Katey- dejavu**

**Kiriel- Karpil**

**Damien- Southern Jaguar94**

**Zailia- JellyBrain (Kane vs. Zailia will probably be in the sudden death battles. Wait for it!)**

**Hyun- Insan**


	18. Lights Out

**Disclaimer- Wish I did.**

"Let the battle begin!" the announcer yelled, or at least, he tried. He hadn't even gotten to the third word when Ari's Seviper turned to its partner Zangoose and attacked. Vicious, anyone?

Artix sweatdropped; how did he know this was going to happen? Their opponents' expressions were pretty much the same. Dumb shock and open gapes.

Seviper dove at Zangoose, tail glowing in what could be identified as an Aqua Tail attack. The Zangoose seemed far less eager to fight the snake, but countered with Crush Claw.

The Seviper hissed in frustration, spitting acid at the Zangoose. A small Detect prevented Zangoose from being harmed, and it sent the snake flying into Wobbuffet with a Fire Blast attack.

The blue Pokemon toppled over as Seviper crashed into it.

"Erm, Wobbuffet, get away from the snake..." Ryden said uncertainly.

Gaz decided to wait for the two to defeat each other, "Dusclops, standby."

Sure enough, Seviper struck back at Zangoose with a Flamethrower, which was destroyed by a Fury Cutter.

"Seviper, as much as I hate to say it, Zangoose is not your enemy. Attack the Wobbuffet and Dusclops!" Ari yelled, desperate and frustrated.

Unfortunately, his voice did not pierce Seviper's rage. The snake spat Haze out to cover the arena. Their eyes were now handicapped, but their ears were not. Vicious hissings and battle cries rang out loudly and clearly.

A flare of heat signified a fire attack of some sort and a sharp shriek meant that Zangoose had been hit. It was followed by a powerful blast, judging by the victorious call that Zangoose yelled as it launched its ultimate attack.

Seviper's shrieks were bloodcurdling. Ari winced at the sound, as did every other person in hearing range.

"Dusclops, use Ominous Wind to blow the Haze away!" Gaz commanded warily.

The zombie Pokemon did that, emitting an eerie wail to summon a spooky breeze that brought chills to the audience.

The Haze parted willingly, revealing two very battered Pokemon. Zangoose seemed to be just barely standing, and Seviper seemed like another breeze would knock it well over.

"Great! Now, knock one of them out with Thunder Punch!" Gaz commanded his Dusclops.

Dusclops charged at Zangoose, just as Seviper launched a powerful Flamethrower in the similar direction. Zangoose could only watch the two attacks, too weak to do anything to stop them.

XXX

Raylight stared straight ahead, trying to ignore the shiver that traveled up his spine. He tried to keep his attention on the battle on the TV in front of him. Well, he tried and miserably failed. Finally, he snapped.

"Is there a reason you've been staring at me for the past eight minutes?" he demanded the girl on the couch next to his. The girl jumped a foot in the air before her blue eyes settled on Raylight's own.

"Hm?" she asked, genuinely startled. She had honey colored hair in a ponytail and pale skin. She wore a loose navy blue button up shirt over a black tank top. The girl wore paint-stained bell bottom jeans and flip flops. She carried a sketch book in her arms.

"You were staring. For an extremely long time," Raylight said in a deadpanned voice.

The girl colored, "Ah! S-sorry! I was, um, thinking..."

Raylight raised an eyebrow. "Thinking...?"

"Y-yeah...thinking," she shifted uncomfortably and turned back to her sketchbook. With an expertly drawn circle, she began to draw the head of Ari's Seviper as it clashed with Zangoose. Raylight shifted his head a bit so that he could take a clear look at the sketch.

He blinked, before saying plainly, "That's good."

"Um, thank you. Your name?" she said quickly, blatantly trying to change the subject.

"Raylight."

"I'm Heidi. Heidi Maple. It's nice to meet you," she nodded, and looked down at the picture.

Suddenly the electricity went out, and the Pokemon Center gained an eerie, spooky feeling. Heidi jumped, and grabbed only thing she could.

Apparently, some legendary Pokemon God hated her, because her hand met someone else's.

Raylight froze as something grabbed his hand. Narrowing his eyes, he yanked on it and felt his face flush when someone fell into his lap.

"Heidi, what are you doing?" he said quietly, glaring at the spot he imagined her sprawled out.

"W-well, you pulled on me!" she hissed, feeling very embarrassed. She was lucky that the lights were out, because she was sure that her face was as red as a Tomato berry.

"You grabbed on to my hand!"

"I was scared! Forgive me for being human!"

"Don't grab on to random people!"

"Don't go yelling at other peo-!" Heidi stopped short when she felt something ice cold breathing on her neck. Shrieking, she reached up to slap it. Unfortunately, Raylight's face got in the way.

"Ow! What the Houndoom was that for?" Raylight yelled as Heidi's hand connected with his cheek.

"Something was there!" Heidi screamed, jumping off of the black-haired boy.

Heidi whirled around to glare at Raylight suspiciously, and promptly lost her balance when the lights flickered back on.

Wincing at the sudden change in lighting, Raylight grabbed the blonde girl's wrist to prevent her from smashing her head on the TV.

Heidi's eyes widened, and she paled.

"Behind you," she whimpered, pointing a single, wavering finger at something behind him.

Raylight turned.

XXX

Yuuki browsed through the department store's Pokemon Food choices, and sighed when all she could find were cheap low-quality brands. She couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. All the girls she had seen the other day couldn't wait to go here, but Veilstone's store was so much better.

"Do they not have anything good here?" She exclaimed in exasperation.

A voice responded behind her, "Perhaps if you didn't set your hopes up so high, you wouldn't be disappointed as much."

Yuuki turned around to see a boy with brown hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a black jacket over a red shirt, with matching black pants. Beside him stood a redheaded girl with light brown eyes. She wore a gray hooded sweater and dark flared jeans.

"Besides, if you really think about it, the PokeParadise brand isn't that bad," the girl added.

"Uhm, who are you guys?" Yuuki asked, looking at the pair oddly.

"Name's Lark Lightspring. Remember it, because I'm going to win the Lilycove Tournament!" the girl grinned at her.

The boy glared at Lark, "We already went through this! I'm stronger, therefore, _I'm _going to win!"

"No way, Nicholas! I kicked your butt in our little match!"

"You did not! If I remember clearly, my Nidoking obliterated your Dewgong!"

"Apparently, your memory's getting foggy, 'cause I was the winner," Lark laughed.

Yuuki sweatdropped, slowly backing away from the quarrelling trainers. Were all the people from Hoenn this...loud? She hadn't recalled any trainers like this in her Hoenn exploits.

She hadn't realized she had voiced her thoughts aloud until she found both Lark and Nicholas facing her.

"We're from Kanto," they remarked in unison.

That explained it. Well, she wasn't going to Kanto any time soon.

"I-I see...I'll be going now!" Yuuki said, grabbing a random bag of Pokemon Food and making a dash for it.

Unfortunately, she didn't get too far before the lights shut off. Without her ability to see, Yuuki crashed into a shelf containing Pokedolls. The shelf toppled over on her, causing the stuffed animals to bury her in a large pile. Yuuki let out a surprised yelp.

"Joe," she called a bit weakly, "Light this place up a bit with your fire."

In the warm bask of the Infernape's head flame, Yuuki unearthed herself from the heap of fake Clefairies.

Lark and Nicholas entered the light's range.

"What's happening?" Nicholas asked her.

"This has never happened before..." Lark muttered.

Yuuki found herself disliking Lilycove and Hoenn overall more each day.

First, the town froze over without her knowing it, and...Let's just say ice is harder than you'd think it was. Then a Gyarados attacks the town and scares practically everyone half to death. You'd think nothing would surprise you anymore that week, but _no_. She had to go get herself stuck in a department store, with two very loud people who like to argue.

Could it get any worse?

**Oh, no! Yuuki thought **_**the**_** thought. Any time someone asks if it could get any worse, it's already set for a disaster to happen. Poor Lilycove. Methinks (awesome word right there) that the city will not survive for another tournament. XP**

**Wonder what's happening in Lilycove? Power failures, mysterious...chills...What has the world come to? (As you can see, I'm in a dramatic mood.)**

**Well, this is a cliffhanger chapter, with every single scene ending with a cliffie.**

**Sorry, I didn't mean to make Yuuki sound that much like a snob...My parents are behind me, watching this person complain about something, so that might affect my writing a bit.**

**And poor Zangoose...How will it get out of this one? (Fun, fun)**

**How many of you actually want your OC in a romance? Tell me, so I know they're open. It also narrows down choices.**

**Today's poll is...What two moves do you think will be really cool to use together in a battle? If you can come up with anything I like, I might use it in a future battle!**

**Credits**

**Ari and Artix and Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Ryden- 4mplify**

**Gaz- Dobblazar**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**

**Heidi- Autumnchronicles**

**Yuuki- yuukifan001**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**


	19. Harmless

**Disclaimer- Ugh, too lazy...doesn't own...**

Zangoose squeezed its eyes shut, and waited for the hit that would surely knock it out...but it didn't come.

Peeking slightly, it came face to face with a dazed looking Dusclops. Thunder crackled in one of its hands, but it made no gesture to attack. Instead, it fell over and fainted, revealing one very angry Seviper behind it.

Gaz blinked, wondering what had happened to his Dusclops, "Er, Dusclops?"

"I think...Dusclops got in the way of the attack and was hit. Seviper's probably mad because Zangoose didn't get hit," Ryden thought aloud.

Sure enough, Seviper was pounding Dusclops in frustration with an Aqua Tail.

"Ah! No!" Gaz cried out, returning his Pokemon.

"Dusclops is down! The winners are the Red Corner's Ari and Artix Harper!"

Ari sighed. At least all had ended well.

Artix saw Ari shoot him a glare before walking off. He guessed that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. His brother had no intention of working together again.

XXX

A girl watched as the lights went out in most of the buildings. She was riding on a Dragonair, and surrounded by six Shuppet.

"I wonder," she laughed silently, "How long will it take for us to get caught?"

The Dragonair let out an exasperate breath of air, in what might have been a sigh. Reluctantly, it flew its trainer off to watch the havoc.

XXX

"What the heck are those things?" Lark yelled as her Raticate tried, and failed, to Hyper Fang them.

"Ghost types!" Nicholas answered, "Called Shuppet! Your normal attacks are useless!"

"What are they doing here?"

Yuuki glared at her in annoyance, "Just shut up and defeat them. The sooner they're gone, the warmer it'll get."

She was right. As soon as the Shuppet had come, the atmosphere had dropped in temperature and seemed so much spookier.

"Fangs, let's go with Charge Beam!" Yuuki commanded, and her Manectric shot down several little ghosts.

"Tyrant, use Shadow Ball!" Nicholas yelled to his Nidoking.

"Strengthen it with Aurora Beam, Dewgong," Lark said.

The seal's attack froze the Shadow Ball, hardening it, before it crashed into a Shuppet, which knocked into another one as it flew backwards, and creating a domino effect.

Lark pause only to flash a grin at her partner and said, "I bet I could defeat more Shuppet than you can."

"You think so? Hate to break it to you, but the moment that thought entered your head, it was already over. I'll kick your butt!" Nicholas challenged.

"Bring it!"

"I will, thanks! Blazer, Aero, Thundra; prepare yourselves, Shuppet!"

"Frosslass, Sharpedo, I choose you!"

Yuuki sweatdropped. She was certain they wouldn't miss her if she left.

Gesturing for her Infernape to follow, and light the way, Yuuki began to search for the stairs and knocking out any ghosts that got in her way.

"Ouch, Joe. Stubbed my toe. Oh! Here it is..." Yuuki mumbled to herself. About halfway up the stairs, she realized that she wasn't headed downstairs. Oh well, she thought, up is better than staying on that floor.

Climbing up the last step, Yuuki looked around. This floor wasn't as dark as the last one, and actually had windows so the moonlight streamed through and lit up-

"Shuuuuuppet!" A stray Shuppet yelled in her ear, causing Yuuki to jump.

She whirled around, "Joe, Fire Blast!"

The poor ghost stood no chance and soon was reduced into a smoking Pokemon on the floor. Shivering, Yuuki began to search for the next staircase. Maybe if she got to the top floor, she could get her Altaria to fly her away.

XXX

"Shuppet!" the little ghost Pokemon snuggled in its perch on Raylight's shoulder.

"Ack!" he squirmed, "Heidi! Help!"

He was a Shuppet magnet. They seemed to be attracted to him. Shuppet hung from his legs and arms, around his neck, perched on his shoulders and head, and otherwise just floating around him.

Heidi inspected the Shuppet on his arm, "Hey, if you actually thought about it, they're kind of cute. I want to draw one."

Raylight stared at her disbelievingly, "We are in the middle of some blackout, surrounded by vicious little demon ghosts, and you say they're cute? What is wrong with you?"

"They are!" Heidi yelled defensively.

"Girls..." Raylight muttered.

Heidi shrugged, "But I'm not the one being mobbed. Oh, look! Another one!"

Raylight growled, "Could you turn around? I'm about to do something very violent to the stupid Shuppet, and I don't think your innocence could take it."

"Don't hurt them!" Heidi protested weakly, grabbing a Shuppet out of the air to hug it. Her arms slipped through its body and she fell.

Taking advantage of the girl's moment of distraction, Raylight gestured for his Lucario to launch an attack at the ghosts. Several Dragon Pulses later, the Shuppet had scattered and Heidi was up on her feet again.

Curiously, she looked around, "Did the Shuppet abandon you? Aw, I was beginning to like them."

Raylight only shrugged, "Doesn't matter now. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

As they were walking, Raylight noticed that the Shuppet were watching them silently. They kept right out of the line of vision, but if he shifted his head quickly enough, he could catch a quick glimpse of one before it retreated.

Frowning slightly, he chucked a Pokeball at one of the slower ones, and nodded in understanding when it merely bounced off of the Shuppet's head.

Heidi stared at Raylight in confusion, wondering why he had stopped to try and catch one of the ghosts. Surely he found them annoying. He had been complaining nonstop just 5 minutes ago.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I was testing a theory, and it seems I was correct."

Heidi cocked her head to the side, "How so?"

"I noticed that the Shuppet were more docile than usual wild Pokemon, which led me to think someone was controlling them. To see if this was true, I tried capturing one. A Pokeball can't capture a Pokemon that's already captured, meaning someone's already caught all these Shuppet," Raylight explained.

XXX

The girl on the Dragonair watched curiously as she watched Yuuki climb the floors in the department store.

"Headed for the top?" she wondered quietly. Nudging the Dragonair, they dove towards the rooftop.

"You."

Yuuki's head snapped up. In front of her was a girl riding a giant blue serpent. The serpent looked at her with...was that pity?

"Who're you?"

The girl shrugged. Her face was covered by the shadows of her black hood, but she wore a hoodie with a purple Pokeball on the back of it.

"I might tell you if you win in a battle," the girl smiled.

Yuuki gritted her teeth, "Fine! Go, Joe!"

The girl hid a grin at the rhyme, "Zephyr."

The Dragonair cried in protest, but the girl paid no attention to it.

"Dragon Rage."

Sighing, Zephyr dove at the Infernape.

"Close Combat," Yuuki yelled, determined.

The Infernape managed to knock the Dragonair away before it was tackle, but Zephyr brought its tail around and knocked Joe on the head.

Joe fell face first on to the hard tiles.

"Joe! Get up and use Flame Wheel!"

Dragonair dodged the fire attack with a speedy maneuver of its own, but accidently dropped its trainer in the process. The girl fell to the ground in a very ungraceful manner, and landed on her backside.

"Owee!" the girl cried, looking upward to find herself staring face to face with Yuuki. The impact had knocked her hood off, revealing short brown hair streaked with red and black.

The girl groaned, "Oh, well. I guess I lost. My name's Katey!"

"Are you the cause of all this? You are, aren't you!" Yuuki accused, "Why? How?"

"Yup, the Shuppet are mine," Katey said proudly, glad that someone was interested in her works, "I was bored, so I decided to make things lively. Mt. Pyre isn't that far away, so I caught a bunch of Shuppet to unleash in Lilycove. Don't worry, they're actually very nice."

**Now, Katey's caused **_**three**_** disasters in Lilycove. –sighs- I worry for the people there.**

**And yes, I know. Short, pathetic ending to a should've been epic battle. I couldn't think of anything else to write.**

**And just a note, I think 'Shuppet' is both singular and plural, so it's like the word 'moose' or 'sheep,' okay?**

**To Koichi- Eh, I don't know if Flannery's going to be in this fic. I haven't read a lot about her, so I really don't know what she acts like. I'll put in a couple mentions, but I don't think it'll be that major. **

**And also, Yuuki isn't that bad. I just messed up her personality really badly.**

**Which, of course, means I need to apologize to yuukifan001, for messing up her OC...Sorry. -_-;**

**Next chapter's a special, to celebrate the 20****th**** chapter of this story! 8D Yay!**

**Today's poll is...What do you think will be the next disaster for Lilycove?**

**Credits**

**Gaz- Dobblazar**

**Ryden- 4mplify**

**Ari, Artix, and Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Yuuki- yuukifan001**

**Heidi- Autumnchronicles**

**Raylight- xsadisticLx**


	20. Lilycove SPECIAL: Guest Appearance

**Disclaimer- I own the plot and a few characters. See Credits below.**

Two trainers stepped off a pink Gastrodon and on to the hot sand. The shorter one returned it, murmuring a quick word of thanks. Their faces were hidden by the shadows, but one could see a boy and a girl, both with blonde hair.

"So, Champ. Which way's the Contest Hall?" the boy turned to her.

"I think it's the one with the crowd," the girl replied.

With one last look at each other, the pair walked off towards the building.

XXX

The stadium seemed even more crowded than before, most of the trainers noted.

"Why're there so many people here?" Ziri complained, looking over at the stands.

Riley shrugged, "It's some special battle or something. I heard Nurse Joy talking about it. Be happy you're not battling today."

"Who is?"

"Welcome!" the announcer greeted the audience, "Today we have a special battle. Two of our contestants will have to battle trainers from outside the contest. The rules don't change, and the contestants will have to win in order to move on."

The crowd cheered, each peering over the heads of the person in front of them in order to try and see who the guests were.

"Our contestants in the Red Corner! Let's welcome Megan Rayme of Veilstone, and Nikki Vazquez from Pallet Town!"

As the two girls entered, Nikki whispered fiercely to her rival, "Listen here, Megan. I came to win, and if you dare drag me down, I will personally-!"

"Personally, what?" Megan said offhandedly, "Hurt me in every possible way? I think not. You'd have to be able to beat me first, which you're incapable of doing."

Nikki growled, quickening her strides as to beat the brown-haired girl to the trainers' box. Megan followed her actions, causing her to break into a run. Pretty soon, they were racing to the box, with the audience watching curiously.

"Now, let me introduce our guest. From the Sunyshore Gym, I bring the Gym Leader, Volkner!"

The room exploded into applause as the blonde raised a single hand.

"And from Celestic, one of Sinnoh's old Champions, Cynthia!"

The noise only amplified. Several trainers in the lobby jumped up, later claiming to have heard a stampede of Rhyhorn.

Cynthia didn't bother to hide her smile as she waved up at the crowd.

"Now, begin!"

"Alright, let's win this! Tiny!" Nikki yelled, hurling a Pokeball into the air.

"Cindy, show 'em!" Megan shouted.

A green Dragonite roared as it flew from the Pokeball and towards the ceiling at the same time a Gabite materialized on the ground in front of Megan.

Volkner followed Nikki's actions, unleashing a steel Magnezone. Cynthia smirked at Megan's Gabite.

"Garchomp."

The audience watched in a suspenseful silence as a bigger form of Cindy yelled powerfully, "Gaaarchomp!"

"Begin!"

"Garchomp, start with Sandstorm!" Cynthia commanded immediately.

A soft breeze was summoned, which turned into a fierce storm, whipping sand around them.

"Where...?" Nikki muttered, wondering where all the sand had come from.

"It doesn't matter; this storm will hinder Dragonite. Tell it to get away from the center of the storm. It'll be easier to move that way," Megan called.

Nikki took the time to shoot the brown-haired girl a glare, "Shut up. Don't order me around. Tiny, get away from the center!"

Megan rolled her eyes, "If you're going to do it, don't yell at me. Cindy! Keep Garchomp away from Tiny!"

"What was that?" Nikki demanded, "Tiny can take care of herself!"

Using a tone one would use while speaking to a toddler, Megan explained, "Normally, perhaps. They're super effective against each other, but Garchomp's are stronger in sandstorms while your Dragonite is weakened. Cindy, on the other hand, shares Garchomp's ability Sand Veil, and is, therefore, a better match up."

Nikki blinked, "Fine. Tiny, Ominous Wind to get the Sandstorm as far away from you as possible."

Tiny nodded, and roared. A cold, chilling breeze blew past the Dragonite and steadily pushed the storm away, but not far.

"Magnezone, use Gyro Ball!" Volkner commanded.

"Tiny, Aqua Tail it!"

The Dragonite's tail shone brightly in a fluorescent blue color as it whacked Magnezone's attack away.

"Dragon Claw, Garchomp," Cynthia yelled.

"Dragon Claw, also, then use Iron Head!" Megan countered.

As their claws collided with each other, Cindy bashed her rock-hard head against her opponent's. Garchomp jumped backwards, a bit dazed, but otherwise unhurt.

"Alright, Garchomp, Sand Tomb!"

The Sandstorm seemed to focus especially on the Gabite, and hardened around the poor Pokemon.

"Now, finish it with Dragon Rush!" Cynthia said.

"No! Cindy, get out of there quickly. Try a Shadow Claw!"

Struggling to move her hand, the Gabite struck the compacted sand with a claw. The sand remained unfazed.

"Aqua Tail!" Nikki's voice snapped Megan out of her panic.

Tiny dove into the sandstorm, going on even as Magnezone hit it with a barrage of Magnet Bombs. Her tail turned that familiar blue as it slammed against the sand. Water splashed up from the impact and softened the attack. Cindy's Shadow Claw attack broke through and the Sand Tomb crumbled and was swept away by high winds.

"Th-thanks," Megan mumbled, keeping her brown eyes on the battlefield.

"What was that?" Nikki asked innocently, but couldn't help but let a smirk slip on to her face. Megan flashed her an annoyed glare.

"Magnezone, Zap Cannon on Dragonite!" Volkner shouted, drawing both their attentions back to the battle.

"Tiny, dodge it!"

The Dragonite managed to dodge the electrical ball with relative ease, but fell right into Volkner's trap. In order to dodge it, Tiny had to fly away from the Gabite and closer to the Magnezone. With a smirk, Volkner called, "Now, while it's close, Lock-on!"

"Mag-ne-zone!" the Pokemon cried as it aimed. The target was set on Dragonite's wing.

"And fire!"

"Maaag-neeee!" it charged up another Zap Cannon and blasted it at the dragon.

The Dragonite stared at the attack in horror as it flew towards the mark on her wing. The explosion the Flash Cannon created upon impact caused Tiny to cry out in pain and plummet to the ground.

"Tiny!" Nikki shouted out of worry for her first Pokemon, "Hang in there!"

The dust cleared, and they could see the Dragonite barely conscious, but still willing to fight.

Finally, the sandy gales of the Sandstorm subsided and the air stilled, heavy from tension.

These last attacks would settle the match.

"Cindy! Draco Meteor!"

"Launch the meteors with Hyper Beam, Tiny!"

"Garchomp, Outrage!"

"One more time, Magnezone, Zap Cannon!"

XXX

"Are you stupid? No!"

"Why not?"

Kyra stared at the crowd with mild interest. A minute ago, everyone had been watching the current battle intensely. What could've possibly distracted them?

"I will not! You can't make me!" a brown haired boy yelled furiously.

"Come on, Quinn! Please?" his friend, a boy with disheveled reddish-orange hair, whined. A girl with dark blonde hair stood behind the quarreling males, looking quite embarrassed and shooting nervous glances at the growing crowd.

"What's wrong?" Kyra said quietly from the spot she had taken behind the boy called Quinn.

Quinn must've jumped at least a foot in to the air as he whirled around to face her.

He was greeted by a girl with incredibly light blue hair, tied up into three low ponytails that hung to her waist. She had hazy dark blue eyes, and wore an indigo turtleneck.

"Eep," was all he managed to force out of his mouth.

His friend, who had only looked up in mild surprise at her sudden appearance, snorted.

"Xavier!" the girl scolded, "It's not nice to laugh at people!"

"But Quinn! He-!" Xavier finally gave in and collapsed into a heap of laughter.

Kyra looked puzzled, "Should I be...scared?"

The girl laughed nervously, "No, they fight like this every day. I'm Lindsay. Nice to meet you."

"Kyrasinna."

Lindsay sweatdropped, "That's a unique name. Long, too."

"Call me Kyra," she offered.

"Kyra!" Xavier said, recovering, "Quinn's being a meanie! He says he won't go to the Department store with me! I wanted to buy some more CDs."

"You did _not!_" Quinn accused, "You only want me to come along so I'll pay for you!"

"You're supposed to help friends," Xavier insisted.

Lindsay sighed, "Don't mind them, Kyra. This happens at least twice a week. Quinn always ends up going anyway."

Kyra blinked, and then shrugged it off. Tournaments like this always attracted odd people.

"I'm...off to train now," she murmured to no one in particular.

As she walked out, Kyra reached for a Pokeball on her waist, "Alright, Leafeon! Prepare yourself!"

The grass Pokemon sprang out and dug a hole into the ground.

"Now, Dig and Hyper Beam combo!"

The Leafeon jumped out of the ground from an exit it created, and dug another tunnel. It repeated this process for a series of times, before settling in the middle of its newly-made labyrinth. Suddenly, all the holes erupted with Hyper Beams that shot straight up into the sky and disappeared from view.

Satisfied, Kyra called to her Leafeon, "That's enough. You can come out now."

Leafeon proudly popped out of the ground and rubbed against her trainer's leg.

"Awwww!" Kyra heard a voice yell from behind her.

XXX

Meteors rained down from the sky and pelted the Pokemon with large rocks the size of Gravelers. They were surrounded by a mysterious green glow, which seemed to power them up even more. The few that strayed from the path of the other meteorites were shot back towards the opponents with the Dragonite's Hyper Beam, making them even stronger than before as they gained momentum.

Cynthia's Garchomp, however, took no notice of the attack and dove forward towards Tiny and Cindy. All the meteorites that even came close to hitting it were blasted aside by Magnezone's Zap Cannon.

The battle had become a true double battle that depended solely on teamwork.

Garchomp neared the two Pokemon, and the Gabite was forced to direct the Draco Meteor attack closer to itself.

Rocks planted themselves firmly on to the stadium floor, both the ones with a natural fall and the blasted ones. (The announcer inwardly groaned, as this also meant for another long clean up session.)

Tiny launched on final beam, and time seemed to slow. The seconds ticked by and both Megan and Nikki watched as the beam inched its way forward.

And hit its target. As if to make up for the suspense, time blurred past for both trainers.

Garchomp fell and Cynthia and Volkner recalled their Pokemon. The crowd erupted with applause, and confetti poured down on them. But none of that mattered. They had won. They were moving on.

**And so ends what I think was the awesomest battle so far, and longest chapter. :D**

**The Nikki and Megan partnership was requested, so that was dedicated to Fire Drastar.**

**Cheers! This is the longest story I have ever written, even counting my original ones! I'm thinking I'm better with other people's characters than my own...**

**Hee, hee. Only 20 chapters, and I have 281 reviews and 16,000 hits. I feel warm inside.**

**To Jigglypuff's Pillow- Sorry that Kyra didn't appear sooner. I kind of forgot about her because I didn't record anything...and I'll also apologize for her short scene too. She's hard to write, but more coming next chapter!**

**Meep. School starts in 3 days...I'll try to keep up the updates, but don't panic if I miss a day or so. I wonder if 8****th**** grade is hard. Any advice?**

**I've also been getting more OCs as of late. I'll use them, too, eventually. One thing I've noticed as I read all the histories. Nobody seems to have a non-tragic past anymore. -_-; Here's my challenge to you, readers. How many of you can create a past that's interesting, but not tragic?**

**Hm, today's poll...favorite animal, and why?**

**Credits**

**Ziri- screamingedge**

**Riley- Mewk**

**Nikki and Megan- Fire Drastar**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Kyra- Jigglypuff's Pillow**


	21. Watching

**Disclaimer- Does anyone read these things?**

A girl skipped over to the confused Leafeon, "You're the evolved form of Eevee, aren't you? You're so cute!"

Kyra blinked, "Um, who are you...?"

The girl looked up at the girl, "Hm? My name's Rini. Is this your Leafeon?"

"Yes."

"It's adorable."

Rini had short, messy hair, and a Chinese silk dress. Rini wore black pants, and black shoes. Her eyes were different colors too, Kyra noted, one green, the other brown.

As Rini continued to cuddle with the Leafeon, Kyra looked away. Her gaze wandered from the old woman watering her flowers, to the girl in front of the Lilycove Inn, to the large crowd in the middle of the town.

Kyra snapped back to reality. Large crowd?

"What's going on over there?" she wondered, mostly to herself.

"Hm? You didn't notice?" Rini asked, cocking her head to the side, "Some famous lady's here."

Kyra did a double take. Well, that explained the reporters.

As she got closer, Kyra was able to hear most of what was being yelled at the woman.

"Miss Sa'Kore! Why did you retire from acting?"

"Is it true that you started your Pokemon journey after you left?"

"What are your thoughts on acting now?"

The voices were joined with yells of fans and autograph requests.

"I-I seem to have l-lost something..." Sa'kore sniffled, eyes filling up with tears threatening to overflow, "At the S-safari Zone."

"I'll find it!" the crowd yelled at once, all eager to help the once-famous actress. As soon as they left, Sa'kore's entire demeanor changed.

"You're still here? Children are so lazy these days," she growled darkly at Kyra.

Kyra opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. She could only blink in surprise at the actress.

"Speechless? I thought as much. Didn't think it was obvious, did you?"

Kyra glowered at the actress. How _dare_ she?!

"It's not nice to say that, Sa'kore," Rini spoke up from behind her. Kyra jumped slightly, but forced the surprise down.

"Aw, a little girl! How cute!" Sa'kore cooed. Kyra's death glare turned into an amazed stare. How many personalities did this lady have?

A fan ran back to them yelling, "I can't find anything!"

Tears welled up in her eyes again, and Kyra swore she would start sobbing, "B-b-but it's so i-important to m-me!"

Looking extremely panicked, the boy hurried to calm her, "D-don't worry! I'm sure it'll turn up somehow!"

Sa'kore looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Could y-you...find it for m-me?" she asked, putting on a cute face. The fan blushed wildly.

"Of course! Anything!" he sprinted away, searching hard, but in the wrong direction.

XXX

Eric stood on the roof of Lilycove's Department Store, looking over the town. He saw a mob of people, mostly reporters and men, run towards the Safari Zone. He saw the crowds of people walking out of the Contest Hall, meaning the battle was over. He saw a random woman in a dark narrow alley knock another lady out. He saw-

Wait a minute.

He stared at the woman. From his height, Eric could see that she had violet hair and a blood red kimono. The girl at her feet had long brown hair.

Eric tossed a Pokeball into the air, and leapt on to the Dragonite's back.

"Take me to that alley," he said simply. The dragon nodded, and swiftly dove towards the violet-haired woman.

As Eric landed, the woman whirled around. Her eyes, they were a pretty shade of blue, but Eric frowned. Taking a step closer, he saw a glazed look in them.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously. She dove for his head, and reflexes made his fist shoot out to meet her. Eric winced as the lady was sent flying into the wall behind her.

He took a step closer. The woman looked to be around 17. She looked up at him, her blue eyes clearing.

"You? You're the one who saved me?"

Eric looked around in confusion. Surely she wasn't talking to him, "E-excuse me?"

"You are!" she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Eric's neck, "My name's Koden Shinwa. Thank you!"

Koden winked and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before running off.'

Eric blushed, "W-well, Lance, let's get going."

His hand missed the Dragonite's Pokeball, and he looked down at his belt. Three of his Pokeballs were missing.

Scowling, Eric chased after Koden, "Stop, you thief!"

Koden looked back and stuck her tongue out at her pursuer. However as she was turned backwards, Koden couldn't watch where she was going. She collided into a dark-haired boy.

"Watch it," the boy said icily.

Koden shrank under his intense stare. "Wh-who're you?"

Her question went unanswered, as the boy pointed to Eric, who had finally caught up.

"Thief! Give me back my Pokeballs!" Eric yelled, causing both Koden and the other boy to wince at the close distance.

"No, they're mine now," Koden sniffed.

"Blaize! Prepare for battle!" Eric threw one of his remaining Pokemon on the field. Koden took a step back, ready to run for it, but noticed that the load in her arms felt lighter. Looking down, she saw that the Pokeballs she had been clutching had been replaced by a Mudkip plushie. Eric's Pokeballs—_her_ Pokeballs—were with the other boy.

Wordlessly, the boy tossed Eric his Pokemon and turned to leave. After all, there were better things to do than dawdle here, like save the hypnot-

His thoughts were interrupted by an outraged shout, "How dare you? Who do you think you are?"

Koden was beyond steaming. How could he have taken the Pokeballs without her noticing?

"I'll teach you to mess with me! Yuki-onna, show him!" A Frosslass materialized from the Pokeball and immediately shot a Flamethrower at the boy.

"Houndour, go wild."

The canine howled and charged straight through the attack. It barely fazed it, and the Houndour clamped its fangs around Frosslass's neck. For the poor ice Pokemon, it was instant lights out.

XXX

Alivia hid in the shadow of a tall building, crouched and watching the civilians warily. Something was off.

Even some of the trainers were acting strangely. They walked slowly, as if they were wading in a pool of syrup, and never looked anywhere but straight. They said not a word, and their faces were kept blank and expressionless. What was going on?

"Tess, do you feel anything?" she asked the purple Pokemon beside her.

"Espeon," she purred, "Speon, espee."

Alivia blinked. As she had thought. A psychic Pokemon's web of power was all over Lilycove.

Still on her guard, Alivia gestured for Espeon to follow her. She crept along the side of the building, keeping well out of anyone's sight. Tess led her towards the Lilycove Inn, where the Psychic's influence was strongest.

In front of the Inn stood a girl, whose eyes glowed purple. She was facing away from the building, and didn't really seem to be conscious. If she hadn't been standing, Alivia would've mistaken her for dead.

"A Psychic," Alivia breathed, "So that's what it was."

Everything made sense. Someone had hypnotized everyone.

**And that's the fourth disaster of Lilycove, which may or may not have something to do with the plot. -_-; I don't know yet. Guess what'll happen next chapter?**

**Lotsa OCs now; some may not be in the tournament.**

**To tell the truth, I didn't really like this chapter, which is why it took a while to write it. –sighs- Tell me how to make the future chapters better!**

**And for yesterday's competition, I've done it! I created three characters with a very happy childhood...just a tragic future. (laughs evilly)**

**Oh, yes. Tell me if I haven't used your OC yet. I forget a lot. I think I haven't used Hailey and Antonio yet, but I don't know about anyone else.**

**Today's poll...who's tag battle should I write next?**

**Credits**

**Kyra and Sa'Kore- Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**Rini- Lightning-Alchemist-Rini**

**Eric- rainbowriter**

**Koden- Kosuchi, Koichi**

**Unnamed boy- Ano-chan (who's a really good writer, so you should check out his stories!)**

**Alivia- Faint Reminiscence**

**(Hee, hee. Lotsa OCs. As soon as you think you've got them all down, I introduce more! XD)**


	22. Hypnotism

**Disclaimer- Everyone belongs to whoever they belong to.**

"Hey, you!" Alivia demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"

The girl turned to her, and Alivia could finally see her fully. The girl had straight dark purple hair that fell past her ankles and intelligent maroon eyes. She wore loose clothing, and held a Pokeball in her hands.

Without a word, the girl threw the Pokeball and released a yellow Pokemon holding a silver pendant.

"Hyyyypno," it said and the pendant began to swing left to right.

XXX

Eric walked down the alley he had first seen Koden in. He had managed to sneak away from them when Koden and that weird boy had battled. Eric had returned to think about the recent turn of events.

Koden had said that he'd saved her, but from what? He searched his mind, and remembered those dull, empty eyes she had first looked at him with. He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the boy in front of him until they had rammed into each other.

"What the—Oh! My bad," Eric blurted out, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

The other boy looked up at him, startled, "Y-you're not with them?"

He had messy brown hair, and bewildered brown eyes. He also wore a marine blue shirt and white cargo shorts, and had a single black glove on his left hand.

Eric looked at him strangely, "With who? Who are you?"

The boy looked around as if he was trying to make sure no one was watching from the shadows, "Sh! You haven't seen?"

Eric was beginning to get annoyed, "No. Tell me."

"You haven't noticed anything strange? Think!" the boy whispered, looking over his shoulder again.

"Well," Eric thought back to Koden, "There was a woman. She was acting strangely, but I snapped her out of it."

"What did her eyes look like?"

"They were...unfocused. Like she was being controlled," Eric said slowly.

The boy nodded furiously, "Exactly! Someone's hypnotized everyone!"

"Slow down! Who are you, and how do you know this?"

"My name is Antonio Bakerstone, but call me Tony," Tony said nervously, "Me and my sister were walking out of the Contest Hall when a girl with a Hypno attacked us. They got Hailey, but I managed to get away. I have to rescue her!"

By the time he finished his explanation, the two had reached the Lilycove Inn. A girl was waiting for them by the front door. She had wavy black hair to the middle of her black.

"Alivia!" Tony exclaimed in relief. He turned to Eric, "Alivia's someone I managed to recruit to stop the hypnotism."

Tony started to walk up to the girl, but when Alivia turned to face him, he faltered. Alivia's normally dark blue eyes were glowing purple.

"Ah! They've gotten to her!" Tony exclaimed. Eric immediately tensed as Alivia snatched a Pokeball off her belt. Grabbing one of his own, Eric began to throw it, but stopped when Tony shook his head.

"No, you go on. Find the cause of this. I'll fight."

As if to prove his point, he unleashed his Swampert as Alivia called on her Empoleon.

Eric hesitated before deciding to trust Tony. After all, this would all be okay if he stopped the cause. He dashed into the Inn without a second thought.

Tony watched silently as Eric left and his Swampert and Alivia's Empoleon clashed again and again, Shadow Claw against Hammer Arm.

"C'mon Marsh, show 'em you can do it!" Tony yelled.

Alivia remained silent, though how she managed to give orders to her Pokemon remained a mystery to Tony.

"Mud Bomb, Marsh!"

Swampert shot out a series of mud bullets from its mouth, but most met their end when they collided with Empoleon's Ice Beam. The few that managed to escape detection missed anyways. Empoleon opened his mouth to form a Water Pulse, which he soon launched in Marsh's direction.

"Bide!"

The Swampert braced itself, and the Water Pulse hit dead on. The Empoleon wasn't in a merciful mood, either, because it charged at Marsh with a Drill Peck attack. Fortunately for Tony, Alivia wasn't in the right state of mind or she surely wouldn't have attacked so much.

As soon as the metal penguin made contact with the Swampert, Tony roared, "Attack!"

Swampert unleashed the attack, causing a bright light to knock the Empoleon backwards. Then, Marsh tackled the poor penguin itself, sending the Empoleon flying back to his trainer.

"Finish with Take Down."

Swampert seemed to move in slow motion as he ran towards his opponent to deal the finishing blow. Suddenly, it seemed like Marsh would never get to reach the opponent. A Lileep could outrun it.

That's when it hit Tony. The Swampert seemed to be moving in slow motion, because it_ was_ moving in slow motion. Marsh was caught in a Psychic attack.

A thin cat Pokemon slinked out of the darkness, eyeing Tony warily.

Surely, Tony thought, the attack is coming from that Espeon. Now if only he could attack it.

Tony started to reach towards his belt, only to have to the Espeon expand the Psychic to cover him to. Suddenly, he felt sluggish, and his arm became heavy. His eyelids drooped, and Tony was overcome with a strong sensation to close them and rest for a bit.

_Just a bit._

XXX

Eric stepped on to the dark WELCOME mat and immediately felt a strange tingle travel up his leg. Freezing, he looked down. He could faintly make out a series of strange triangle-like symbols in the faint light. Cautiously, he brought his other foot up next to it.

When he looked up, he found himself in a completely different room. A teleport, Eric mused.

The lighting was unchanged; it was still dark and haunting. However, Eric saw two rows of lit candles leading down a long corridor.

Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Eric walked forward, in between the rows. As he followed the candle hallway, Eric's eyes began to adjust to the darkness. He was walking on a long carpet, the type famous people walked on. It was the rich color of blood, and marked with even more weird symbols.

Eric looked back over his shoulder, and realized that the candles were extinguishing themselves as he walked by. All he could see now was a dark void that expanded as he moved forward. It seemed to swallow everything he passed, and would soon swallow him, too, if he didn't move faster.

Eric found himself breaking into a run just to get away; the black hole only moved faster. His entire being was overcome with a feeling of horror and dread. And something else.

Fear.

Until it stopped. Everything froze. Eric felt the heavy load lift off of his shoulders.

"Eric Rickey. 15. Born in Slateport City."

A soft, ghostly voice made his head snap up. A girl stood in front of him. She looked younger than him, 11 years at most, but her maroon eyes were full of wisdom. Her dark purple locks fell along her back and almost dragged along the floor. She stood looking intensely at him, her back facing a large window. Sunlight streamed through, distorted by the glass.

"Pokemon on hand; Torterra, Blaziken, Dragonite, Umbreon, Gardevoir, Lucario."

Her voice surrounded him like music, but he stepped backwards, a bit frightened. The girl's eyes softened.

"Born to one Forest Rickey and one Alison Rickey."

"Who are you?" Eric's voice sounded hoarse to him.

"Who am I?" the girl repeated, but more to herself. She smiled sadly.

They stared at each other in silence, eyes locked, until he broke away.

"Are you the one who hypnotized everyone? Why?" Eric tried to ask her, his voice cracking with every word.

The girl continued to gaze at him, silent.

"That's enough, Freya. You may go."

A deep voice startled Eric, causing him to jump. Someone, a grown man, walked out of the frightening void, but the shadows continued to shield himself from view.

When the girl, Freya, didn't move, the man's voice turned sharp and whipped at her, "Leave us now!"

Even though Eric winced, Freya only looked at both of them before turning to exit. As she left, Eric saw something in her deep eyes. Was it...loneliness?

Whatever it was, Eric saw it only for a moment before his attention snapped back to the problem at hand.

"Who are you?" Eric asked. He seemed to be asking that a lot, lately.

"Hm, does it matter? Didn't you come here to free the people of Lilycove?"

Eric blinked, "Um, yeah? But, I thought that girl...Freya...Wasn't she the one who hypnotized everyone?"

"Very true," Eric thought he could see a smirk on the man's face, "But Freya, she's only one of the many pawns. A troubled girl, you see. She came to me seeking help some 25 years ago."

Eric did a double take, "T-twenty five _years_?!"

"Looks quite young, doesn't she?" the man chuckled, "I've said too much. Prepare yourself. Let's see if you can save Lilycove."

**Heh, I enjoyed writing this chapter much more than the last one. Much more fun. Tell me what you think? Was this good?**

**I've been thinking. I update pretty quickly, but my chapters are pretty short. Which would you guys prefer more: quick updates or long updates?**

**To KK (You don't mind me calling you this, right?): Actually, some of the characters are men...well, one of them, anyways. (Tony). The Psychic wasn't one of them; she's my own creation.**

**To silentlysnowing: Thanks for the advice. I followed it, and this chapter was the result. I somehow managed to tie everything in together. Tell me what you think!**

**Today's poll will be...what do you want the next SPECIAL chapter to be about?**

**I've got a riddle (I love them). Who can solve it?**

_**I'm going up, while going down**_

_**Up to the sky, down to the ground**_

_**I'm past and present rolled up into one**_

_**Bring a friend for a ride, and we will have fun.**_

_**What am I? (Hint: think playground)**_

**Credits**

**Alivia- Faint Reminiscence**

**Eric, Tony, and Hailey- rainbowriter**

**Koden- Kosuchi, Koichi (unless, of course, you changed your name to KK the prophet)**


	23. On the Darker Sides

**The answer was seesaw!**

**Disclaimer- If I owned Pokemon...**

"Gardevoir! Blaziken!" Eric yelled as the crashed to the floor, defeated by the mysterious man's Muk and Grumpig.

"A shame. It seems you are not worth my time."

"I'm not done yet! Umbreon, Shadow Ball! Torterra, Frenzy Plant!" Eric shouted, strangely enraged. He threw the two Pokeballs holding the Pokemon on to the battlefield.

"Umbree!"

"Torterra!"

His Pokemon hurried to obey his commands, equally as angered. The Umbreon launched Shadow Ball after Shadow ball at the opponent, while Torterra summoned powerful thorny vines from the ground. The man didn't blink.

"Take care of it, Muk. Psychic, Grumpig."

Muk took the Shadow Balls down by Body Slamming them. Its mushy body seemed to absorb all the power in the attack without damaging Muk, and the Shadow Balls soon dispersed into nothingness.

Grumpig's eyes glowed blue as it took control of Torterra's Frenzy Plant. Using a strong and well-controlled Psychic, it managed to turn the attack on Eric's Pokemon. Both Torterra and Umbreon cried out in pain as the vines lashed out at them. Gritting his teeth, Eric watched in horror as Torterra's own attack was used against them. What kind of opponent was he facing?

"Gunk Shot, Muk. Grumpig, use Bounce!"

The Muk spat out a blob of gunk into the air, straight up. Grumpig jumped on to its tail and was thrown into the air before falling again. Its tail caught it and shot it upward again, higher this time. When it fell to the ground this time, the Grumpig focused all its weight down. This forced the spring to be pushed even more than was necessary, and launched the pig all the way up, quicker and higher than Muk's Gunk Shot. With deadly accuracy, Grumpig slammed into the Gunk Shot, sending it flying in Torterra and Umbreon's direction.

"G-get out of there!" Eric panicked. Before the sentence was out of his mouth, however, the poisonous substance had already hit, thanks to the acceleration Grumpig's Bounce had given it.

The Gunk Shot splattered all over Torterra and Umbreon. With one final attempt to free themselves, both collapsed in exhaustion.

"Ah," Eric inhaled sharply as that familiar feeling of dread washed over him again. Even with all his victories, he couldn't win.

"Uum," his Umbreon cried out softly to him. Eric looked at her. The Umbreon gave a light smile. Beside her, his Torterra growled in agreement. They were strong. He shouldn't give up hope.

"I'm not finished. I still have-!" Eric was interrupted.

"I do not have time to waste here, but I'll return Lilycove to its normal state," the man said, "After all, this was merely an experiment. It is only a taste to what's to come."

XXX

Lilycove seemed to be waking up for the first time in forever. Civilians opened their eyes, finding themselves in places they couldn't remember going to. However, their minds were clearer than ever.

Trainers who had fallen victim to the hypnotism for whatever reason were released. All over the city, hypnotism victims woke to a shining sun and a smiling face.

But all was not well.

Rini smiled as she sat on cliff overlooking the newly awakened Lilycove.

"Did you manage to find what you were looking for?" she chirped to the girl behind her.

"...Not entirely, but I've caught on to someone," Alivia said looking off into the distance, "Someone interesting. Have you heard of a Freya Veer?"

Rini looked at the younger girl oddly, "It might've come up before. May I ask why you're so interested?"

Alivia smirked, "She came up in my search."

"I see," Rini mused, "Freya. She was a...seer that piqued the organization's interest a couple of decades ago."

"D-decades?!" Alivia exclaimed, "She looks no older than 11!"

Rini continued to gaze down at the city, not meeting Alivia's eyes, "According to her files, she is 36. However, she did disappear from our watch for 25 of those years. I wonder what she did...?"

The 12 year old girl smiled faintly at the thought.

"Perhaps she—But no. It couldn't be. Could she?" Alivia murmured under her breath, her mind racing to find a logical answer.

"Forget Freya, Alivia. Remember your orders? They will not be happy if you fail."

Alivia grimaced, "Yes."

The black haired girl turned around to leave.

As soon as she could not hear her anymore, Rini spoke, "Show yourself."

A violet haired woman walked up to her, a sly smile on her face.

"I heard you talking right now."

"I figured," Rini spat, "What do you want, Shinwa?"

Koden Shinwa shrugged, "Merely to help. Will you reject that too?"

"You have not been forgiven, woman," Rini warned, "One wrong move and..."

She didn't need to say more. Koden winced and stepped backwards. The threat was clear.

"I am aware."

XXX

A boy with black hair and gray eyes strode up to the receptionist.

"I would like to speak with the owner of this tournament," he said.

Shrinking under his intense stare, the woman replied shakily, "Ah, d-do you have an appointment?"

"No. But I need to speak with him."

"I'm sorry, sir. But the owner will not meet you unless you have an appointment."

"Will nothing change your mind?" the boy asked quietly, disappointment showing in his cold eyes.

"Nothing," the receptionist said, eager to have the boy leave.

The boy looked around, "Very well. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use force. Let's see if I cannot change your mind."

He threw a Pokeball into the air, and a Houndour popped out. The canine roared viciously and spat flames on to the carpeted floor.

"Send this place up in flames. Let it drown in misery and reek with the stench of death," the boy ordered coldly.

The Houndour howled a bloodthirsty roar and summoned the strong flames to surround the building. Leaping up, it spat flames at the doorway, preventing anyone from escaping. It snarled, eyeing the people in the Hall with glee. After all, these were the humans who would roast in hell tonight.

The flames flickered higher until they licked at the ceiling. Someone screamed. Sirens could be heard outside.

"Call your dog off!" the receptionist screamed, "Stop it! Stop it!"

Her pleas went ignored. The boy had already left.

**Hm, why do I get the feeling that I shouldn't have written that last scene? But I had to show how that dude doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he gets his way.**

**This story is beginning to get sections—er, what were they called? Arcs, maybe? Wonder what the next one will be. I only know that I'll have one dealing with legendaries.**

**But don't worry. The next chapter will be the tournament again.**

**Favorite character poll is still open, for any with a change of heart. I'll probably not announce anything unless there is a change in winners, though.**

**And last chapter's vote was unanimous. Quick updates it is! (More cliffies for me!) ^_^**

**Credits**

**Eric- rainbowriter**

**Alivia- Faint Reminiscence**

**Rini- Lightning-Alchemist-Rini (I'm aware that Rini seems OOC, from what you put in her bio. There's a reason ((I hope)))**

**Koden- KK the prophet**

**Unnamed boy- Ano-chan**


	24. Beach Battle

**Disclaimer- Owns nothing, save tournament and certain characters. Credits below.**

"_-fire burned down the Contest Hall last night. Reconstruction starts today. Rescue crews managed to save everyone in the building. No suspects so far, however, there are some victims believe it was the work of a young teenage boy and a Houndour. This is yet to be confirmed. Next up, we have-!"_

Zailia switched off the television, yawning. She was sprawled across one of the Pokemon Center's couches.

"This tournament is awfully fishy," she muttered to herself.

"Isn't it?" Someone spoke. Blinking, Zailia sat up. Two trainers, a boy and a girl, sat on the couch in front of her.

The girl had short red hair that stopped right below her chin and light brown eyes. She had pale skin, and a rather attractive build. The girl wore a hooded gray sweater and dark flared jeans.

The boy sat next to her, with brown hair and eyes. He wore a black jacket with a red shirt, and black pants. They both had serious expressions on their faces, staring intently at Zailia.

"I mean, first, that girl disappeared, and then that odd hypnotism, and now a fire? It's too suspicious to be a coincidence," the boy said in a hushed tone.

Zailia blinked again, "Who are you?"

"Name's Lark, and this idiot is Nicholas," the girl said, pointing to herself and the boy next to her respectively.

"I am not an idiot! Besides, your real name is Rachel!" Nicholas snorted.

"Sharpedo! Go blast him with your Aqua Jet!" Rachel screamed, jumping up and pointing a single finger at him. The shark popped out of his Pokeball and was about to attack.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Nicholas yelled, holding his arms above his head as he cowered away.

Rachel glared at him, "You better be."

Zailia stared at the pair.

"I...don't know you guys," she said, edging away from the two.

Instantly, Lark and Nicholas put on solemn expressions.

"Back to the fire," Lark began, "A trainer with a Houndour. Do you recall anything like that?"

"We don't even know if it _was_ a trainer like that. Why would he even be here?" Nicholas argued, "I mean, he's obviously not in the Lilycove Tournament. He would've appeared in the prelims."

"Didn't you hear the TV lady?" Lark demanded.

"There are several other witnesses that claim different things," Zailia interrupted, "Before you came, there was a man who thought he saw some devil dragging people away to its lair, and there was a woman who swore she saw a line of ghosts returning from the dead."

Lark rolled her eyes, "From the dead? Puh-leeze. Like that's even possible."

"Then there are stories about some punks setting fire to random buildings to be 'cool,'" Zailia admitted, "But those are lame. The other ones were a lot cooler."

"Are you kidding?" Nicholas exclaimed, "Why would you want to the dead to come back to life?"

"I said it would be cool. Not that I wish it would happen. Geez. Boys..."

"I know, right?" Lark muttered in agreement.

XXX

"Due to the fire, the next battle will be held on the beach," the announcer yelled into the microphone as the audience filed on to the bleachers, "Everything will proceed as planned. Now, let us welcome the Red Corner's trainers. Give it up for Ferk Ramalo of the Orange Islands and New Bark Town's Luther Johnson!"

The crowd roared in approval as the two trainers walked up to the temporary battlefield. One boy, Luther, had dark brown hair that ended at his neck and bangs to his chin. He had hazel eyes, and wore a black hoodie with rolled up sleeves.

The other boy, who had to be Ferk, had green eyes, and his shoulder length blonde hair was streaked with blue. He wore a purple rimless cap with a sleeveless tie-die shirt.

"I choose Bandit!" Luther cried, throwing his Espeon's Pokeball into the air.

"Girafarig, you're up!" Ferk followed his partner's motions.

The two Psychic Pokemon appeared in the hot sand, ready for battle.

The Green Corner on the other hand...

"Now, from the Green Corner, we have Katey O'Reily all the way from Hearthome, and Celadon's Damien Green! Let's give them a warm welcome!"

Katey and Damien walked up to their platform, not even bothering to look at each other. They both kept their eyes ahead of them.

Of course, Damien couldn't help but pass a rude remark.

"Don't get in my way, coordinator."

Katey colored, "What was that, weakling? I'm pretty sure they paired you with me so that you'd actually stand a chance."

"What part of 'partners will be randomly chosen' don't you get?" Damien shot back, "Are you coordinators as stupid as you are weak?"

"Smarter than you could ever hope of being," Katey retorted.

"Oh, yeah? Prove it!"

"How immature can you get? I will, thank you. Go, Drago!"

The familiar Gyarados materialized in the ocean and watched in amusement as Damien shrunk back visibly.

"Oh. Er, Sharpedo, you're up," he called rather hesitantly, releasing the shark next to the large serpent.

"Let the battle commence. Begin!"

"Thunderbolt, Girafarig!" Ferk commanded.

"Dive," both Damien and Katey said simultaneously. Then, they glared at each other.

"Don't steal my commands, coordinator," Damien spat.

Katey rose an eyebrow, "_Your_ command, trainer? I could've sworn it was _my_ command that you stole."

The giraffe Pokemon's attack sailed over Sharpedo and Gyarados's heads as they ducked under the water.

"Now Drago, Hydro Pump!" Katey yelled.

"Sharpedo, Ice Beam!" Damien demanded.

"Dodge i-!" Ferk was interrupted by Luther.

"Don't," the younger boy said, "The attacks are off."

Ferk blinked, but soon realized what he meant. The unsynchronized attacks collided with each other before even coming close to Girafarig. Instantly, the Hydro Pump froze.

"I told you to stay out of my way!" Damien roared.

"Your way? I totally attacked first! Why did you freeze my Hydro Pump?"

"C'mon Bandit, Psybeam!"

The rainbow beam shot quickly towards Drago, who skillfully dove out of the way.

"No, you don't!" Ferk said, "Psychic, Girafarig!"

The Psybeam was turned around and directed back towards the Gyarados with the giraffe Pokemon's attack.

"Get behind Sharpedo!" Katey yelled.

Gyarados dove behind his partner at the last second, and the attacks collided with the shark Pokemon.

"What was that for?" Damien demanded.

"Chill. Sharpedo's a dark type so it wouldn't do anything. And you call me stupid," Katey said offhandedly.

"That doesn't give you an excuse to use Sharpedo as a shield, coordinator," Damien retorted hotly.

"Fine," Katey huffed, "Gyarados, Surf!"

A large wave rose among the smaller ones.

"You, too, Sharpedo!" Damien yelled, shooting a glare in Katey's direction. Of course he wouldn't let himself be outdone.

The wave grew bigger and taller thanks to the shark Pokemon's additional power. It towered above the poor Girafarig and Espeon.

"Shock Wave," Ferk said simply.

"Dive!" the command was, once again, given at the same time. Ferk only smirked.

The electricity collided with the large tidal wave, this time. It was over before it started.

The attack shot through the water in an electrifying wave, shocking all who came across its path. After the wave subsided, two Pokemon floated up to the surface of the ocean.

A Gyarados and a Sharpedo.

**I feel kind of guilty just ending it there. –sighs- But I don't know what to write next. Now, who haven't I used in a while? The next arc will be about them.**

**Er, what should the next arc be about? Any requests? I don't want to just jump into the legendary one.**

**Meep. I started school. I now know why it is so hard to update during the school year. Hopefully, I can continue this. I must now try and write chapters in advance.**

**Eh, I think the only reason Katey and Damien lost in this chapter was because I was reading back and realized that every team that had trouble with their partner had won. So I made one that lost.**

**I forgot to do a poll last chapter, but here's today's...who do you think the villain(s) are in this fic?**

**Credits**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Ferk- silentlysnowing**

**Damien- Southern Jaguar94**

**Katey- dejavu**

**Luther- Fallen Vanguard**


	25. Monster's Storm

**Disclaimer- Look at last chapter's.**

"Alivia, you had better not mess this up!" Rini threatened, "I swear, if you mess this up I will-!"

"Fine. Don't worry. I'm perfectly aware," Alivia replied, tying up her wavy black hair into a sleek ponytail.

They heard a distant cheering, signaling the end of another battle.

"Hurry, while Koden distracts them with her battle," Rini hissed to her subordinate. Nodding, Alivia slipped into the shadows.

The Great Lilycove Hotel was a luxury building, usually only used by the rich and the famous. The Lilycove Inn was dwarfed by its size and grandeur. It had diamond chandeliers hanging from gorgeous high ceilings, rich red carpets the color of blood, solid gold statues; in short, it was second to none.

It was here that Alivia headed towards. She slipped into the hotel, but was stopped by a guard.

"You don't look like you could afford to stay here, kid," the guard chuckled lightly. Alivia almost growled, but caught herself.

Putting on her best pampered voice, she looked straight into the guard's eyes, "Excuse you; I don't believe you know who you are talking to. Know your place, commoner."

The guard frowned, as if reconsidering his conclusion, "Er, name and room number? Can I see your card?"

Alivia thought quickly, "Papa always told me that I shouldn't give my name to strangers. I don't have my card. I thought you were supposed to recognize us. Why should I waste my time carrying around a slip of paper?"

"...It's plastic."

This is fun, Alivia thought, Perhaps I should do this more often.

"Did you just _correct_ me," Alivia said, trying to make her voice shrilly. It must've worked, because the guard shrunk away from her.

"N-no. Go on in, madame."

Alivia entered the hotel, very pleased with herself.

Room 2907, Alivia read.

"Perfect," she whispered, "Now, to break in..."

XXX

Alex stared at the girl beside her in complete awe.

"A-aren't you the famous Sa'kore Liora? The actress? Are you really my battle partner?" Alex shrieked, in shock and joy.

"Famous _ex_-actress," Sa'kore corrected, sighing, "Why can't people get that right...?"

On the other side of the battlefield, Eric was also staring at his partner, but in disgust and horror.

"You," he said.

"Yes. Me," Koden replied, rolling her eyes.

"You! The thief!" Eric accused.

Koden pouted a bit, finally looking over at him, "I prefer...I don't know, enchantress? Beautiful gorgeous lady?"

"Don't make me laugh," Eric snorted.

"Okay, the next battle is between Red Corner's Koden Shinwa and Eric Rickey and Green Corner's Sa'Kore Liora and Alessandra Cesarini!"

"Lights, cameras, action! Go, Canopy!" Sa'Kore yelled.

"Thunder!" Alex threw a Pokeball into the air.

A Tropius burst out and flew up, taking the time to stare down at its opponents. A Pikachu also entered the battlefield, electricity flying from his red cheeks.

"Alright, Dragonite, show 'em how far we've come!" Eric shouted.

Koden smirked, "This'll be interesting; Yuki-onna!"

The dragon Pokemon and a Frosslass appeared and stared at the other Pokemon. All four trainers glared.

"This'll be a fierce battle," the announcer muttered. Then he raised his voice, "Now, let's begin!"

"Icy Wind," Koden called.

The Frosslass whipped up a cold breeze and pelted the other Pokemon with it. Hail and large chunks of snow could be seen being blown along the powerful gale, and bits of the ocean froze over as the Icy Wind sailed over its deep, dark waters. The other Pokemon cowered away, especially Thunder and the Dragonite.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Eric exclaimed, "I'm on your side!"

"Oh, are you?" Koden said, flashing him one of those obnoxious smirks that people use when they know something you don't.

"What does that mean?" Eric asked, glowering at her slightly.

"There are things you're better off not knowing. Now, Yuki-onna. Blizzard!"

Sa'kore sighed, "If you must know, there is a theory that all female Frosslasses are lacking in the brain cells a Magikarp has. Therefore, use Sweet Scent, Canopy!"

The slight falter that the Frosslass made at the insult was all the Tropius needed to unleash a strong and lovely scent that immediately caught everyone's attention. Dragonite floated in the air, eyes closed and inhaling deeply. Frosslass froze and gasped in the sweetened air as if to get it all before it disappeared.

"Follow with a Razor Leaf!"

Alex nodded slightly, understanding Sa'kore's strategy, "'Kay, Iron Tail!"

"Pikaaa!" the electric mouse yelled triumphantly as his tail hardened.

He jumped up into the air and knocked several leaves in the direction of the Dragonite and Frosslass, powering them up even more. The dazed Pokemon made no effort to dodge, though their trainers yelled and shrieked at them to move out of the way.

The Sweet Scent drifted off, leaving a very confused Dragonite and Frosslass staring at the scratches that the Razor Leaf had inflicted.

"Dragonite, use Dragon Claw!" Eric commanded.

"Yuki-onna, Fake Out!"

The Frosslass jumped forward quickly, clawing at the Tropius. Canopy squeezed his eyes shut and stepped backwards in a wild attempt to dodge the attack, though Frosslass pulled back at the last second without touching him. As Frosslass moved away, Dragonite flew in while the Tropius was distracted. The Dragon Claw knocked the grass Pokemon back several meters, despite his size and weight.

Canopy stumbled backwards, before shakily getting to his feet. Growling, the Tropius headbutted the Dragonite as payback.

Both Pokemon glared at each other, expecting the other to back down.

_Nobody _messes with a Dragonite, the Dragonite thought darkly.

Who does he think he is, messing with me? Canopy had similar thoughts.

"Blizzard attack!" Koden commanded.

"Dragonite, dive into the attack with Giga Impact!" Eric yelled, deciding to take the risk.

Dragonite flew into the Blizzard attack with tremendous force, charging at the two other Pokemon. The ice froze the dragon Pokemon, but still it kept going. The force of the Dragonite's Giga Impact eroded the chunk of ice into a narrow point, so that it looked like an arrowhead.

Sa'kore waited until the last moment before giving her command, "Now, Leaf Storm."

Tropius's gale collided with the Frosslass's own attack, forcing it back a bit. A barrage of sharp, strong leaves cut against the Dragonite's ice arrow, cracks appeared on the smooth surface.

"Use Nature Power!" Sa'kore yelled next.

Waves rose to their full height, much like the last battle's, but much larger. Thunder crackled in the darkening clouds above; the sea roared its battle cry in fury.

And from the midst of it all, a monster rose from the murky waters of the ocean. Most of it was covered in dark shadows, and the parts that showed were not liked. It was the shape of a great bird, grand yet threatening. Its color could not be determined but its eyes glowed.

With one screech, the tides rushed in towards the shore, eating up everything in their paths.

XXX

Alivia looked out of one of the windows and smirked as she saw the lightning in the sky. Something roared from the direction of the beach, and she could hear wild waves crashing against the shore. Soon, screams could be heard.

Koden had done well. Now, to complete _my_ mission, Alivia thought.

Skimming the room, Alivia's gaze lingered on the king-sized bed. Thick golden blankets covered the rich sheets, and puffy white pillows sat unruffled at the head of the bed. Sighing, Alivia turned away. Her attention was captured by the edge of the carpet.

Though it would seem perfectly fine by normal people, Alivia knew better. The carpet was slightly crooked from the wall; its angling was a bit off. Perhaps it was just a mistake, but the dark haired girl knew better. Grand hotels like this one loved perfection.

Flipping the rug over, Alivia exposed the hidden safe beneath it. It hadn't been well hidden, but the structure was unmistakably a professional's. The texture matched exactly, and the lines separating the safe from the floor were next to invisible.

Fortunately for her, Alivia was very skilled in spotting even the smallest of things. She easily discovered the lock, and opened it. Most people weren't careful with their codes, as was this one.

Alivia snatched a small book from its hiding place, grinning victoriously. She gracefully flung open the balcony door, and jumped down into the mysterious shadows below.

**HA! I managed to get today's chapter out. Now, I must work on tomorrow's. :D**

**Who do you think will win? Who do you want to win?**

**Okay, I know what the next arc'll be. All of you readers came up with good ideas (at least, the ones who tried) and I think I'm going to combine all of them together, so watch for that!**

**And also, the Lilycove Tournament has been added to 031ap's Forum for Tournament stories. It's number 13 (at least, last time I checked) and climbing, so go there if you want to say something (or put it in a review *hinthint*)! Thanks for all your support.**

**I haven't asked this in a long while, but do you guys have any suggestions? I'm always up for improvements!**

**Those of you who haven't seen it yet, you should try and read Ano-chan's ****The Path of Revenge****. Lovely story, to all who haven't read it. It's suspenseful, and well-written, and mysterious...and basically everything good that Lilycove Tournament isn't.**

**Today's poll shall be...why are you still reading this story?**

**Credits**

**Alivia- Faint Reminiscence**

**Rini- Lightning-Alchemist-Rini**

**Koden- KK the Prophet**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Sa'Kore- Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**Eric- rainbowriter**


	26. Ghost Ship

**Disclaimer- Who knows what I'm about to say? Er, what I'm supposed to say?**

Kane jumped up from his seat on the bleachers just in time to avoid being trampled by a good portion of the crowd. Most of the audience had long since fled, and the ones who remained were in a state of complete chaos.

"What is that? A Pokemon?" he wondered out loud.

"That is a Lugia," he heard a scholarly voice from behind him, "It has only been heard of in legends, and whatnot. If you look at page 708 of this excellent book, Legends of Johto."

He turned to see a man about age 21 leafing through a thick book. He had blue-gray hair and violet eyes, and wore a suit. He had a top hat perched on top of his hair.

"Now's not the time to be reading," Kane said, sweatdropping.

"Why, you are absolutely right, young man. Now we must protect my hometown of Lilycove from this fearsome beast! To battle!" the man cried, shutting the book closed and grabbing a Pokeball off his belt.

Kane stepped back, slightly shocked. This man was a trainer? Come to think of it, he thought, wasn't he that trainer in the tournament? What was his name, Mycroft?

Lugia shrieked and launched an Aero Blast at the two of them. Mycroft and Kane managed to dive out of the way just in time. They got away without too many scratches, which couldn't be said about the bleachers. The impact smashed into the rather flimsy piece of metal, instantly destroying it.

Sand flew up into the air, creating a thick cloud of dust, and somewhere to their right, someone yelled, "Evil beings! How dare you go against me? Justice shall spite you!"

Squinting, Kane was just able to make out the figure of a young girl with...was that a tail?

She was battling Lugia, or rather, getting beat up by the legendary bird.

"Arcaaa," her Arcanine groaned as it was tossed on to the ground for the thirty-seventh time.

"Come on, King. One more time!" the girl yelled encouragingly.

"Didn't she say that seven attacks ago?" Mycroft muttered.

The Arcanine pushed himself up, wobbling noticeably, and charged at the Lugia. Again, Lugia brushed the canine aside with its wing like the effort was nothing. King crashed into the sand, and was soon knocked out by the Lugia's Hydro Pump.

"That's okay, King. Cerebrus, you're up!"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Mycroft demanded, "Lugia's a legendary. There's no way you can defeat it!"

The girl grinned at him, "But I'm Hyun Suns, defender of Justice, and Justice always prevails. Attack!"

Cerebrus, her Houndoom, howled and launched a Fire Blast at Lugia. The great bird easily extinguished the attack with an Aero Blast, which caused the Houndoom to fly several feet into the air, and land in a heap at his trainer's feet.

"Graoh," he mumbled unceremoniously.

Kane grabbed a Pokeball, "Come on, Mycroft. You won't let a kid like her fight Lugia by herself, will you?"

Mycroft grumbled something in reply, but nodded, while Hyun tried to scream at them, "I am _not_ a kid! I'm a defender of Justice! Not a kid! Do you hear me? A defender of Justice!"

XXX

Quinn frowned as Xavier ordered a third cheeseburger, "You need to stop eating so much."

"But I'm hungry," Xavier complained.

"If you must eat so much, pay for it yourself!" Quinn exclaimed, "I swear, I've been paying for your meals ever since your battle at the tournament!"

"But I won!"

Lindsay giggled. This happened at practically every meal. She knew what they would say next.

"So what if you wo-!" Quinn's daily argument was interrupted by a sudden flash in the sky, and several screams. A large crowd ran past the restaurant they were eating at, trampling anything, and anyone, who got in their way.

"That's...abnormal," Xavier muttered, "Wonder what happened."

Lindsay fidgeted uncomfortably as she realized something, "Guys? Isn't that in the direction of the tournament battles?"

Xavier and Quinn froze.

"What?" they asked simultaneously.

A couple of arguments about the bill later, all three were racing through the dark streets of Lilycove. Their hearts raced as they tried to see what was wrong. An explosion rang through the city, and Quinn winced as the air filled with more shrieks.

"What's going on?" Xavier yelled, trying to see the cause of the commotion.

"Something big's happening on the beach," some big man panted, "It's destroying everything in sight. Wild, man."

Lindsay stopped, peering strangely at a wall.

"Um, what are you doing?" Xavier asked.

"Something's there," Lindsay murmured in reply.

The three stared intently at the wall, until Xavier walked forward. He kicked it, or he would've if his foot had connected with the red bricks. Instead, his shoe went straight through, causing Xavier to stumble forward and disappear from sight all together.

Quinn opened his mouth to say something, anything, but found himself rendered speechless. Lindsay spoke for both of them.

"That's something you don't see every day."

Curiously, the dark blonde girl stuck a hand through the wall. Sure enough, it went straight through without a problem.

"It seems to be an illusion," Lindsay muttered, "Come on, Quinn."

"Erm, why?" Quinn asked hesitantly.

"To rescue Xavier? Why? You scared?"

"No! He's just so much quieter in there!"

XXX

Lark stared through the window behind Nicholas and didn't say anything.

"Erm, Lark? Are you okay?" the boy asked uncertainly, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Nicholas, why is the lighthouse...flickering?" Lark wondered distantly, "The light is flashing on and off."

Nicholas looked out the window behind him. True to Lark's words, a light was flickering near the shore. He stared at it, faintly making out the outline of a tall cylinder every time the lighthouse lit up.

"Do you think there's something wrong with it?" he asked finally.

Lark shook her head, "No. Coincidences don't happen in a time like this."

She scooted her chair backwards and stood up, "Okay, ready for a bit of adventure?"

The pair dashed out of the Pokemon Center and towards the beach. Thunder crackled and lightning flashed, but Lark and Nicholas did not stop until the former crashed into a dark-haired girl.

"Gah!" Lark cried as she stumbled forward, Nicholas tripping over her fallen form.

"Watch it!" the other girl snapped sharply, turning back towards the lighthouse, "Are you guys going too?"

Nicholas froze at her voice, "Is that—Is that you, Zailia?"

"Who else?"

"Gerrofa me," Lark mumbled from the ground, and Nicholas shot up.

"Not my fault! You tripped me!"

"You should've been watching where you were going!" Lark yelled back.

Zailia looked behind her, somewhat nervously, "Guys?"

"Speak for yourself! You ran into Zailia!"

"It's dark out here!"

Zailia narrowed her eyes. She was not used to being ignored, "Are you listening to me? If you aren't, than you'll regret it."

Both irritated teens turned to her, "Oh, yeah? What'll you do?"

"Nothing," Zailia said, "But if you'll look behind me."

She pointed in the direction of the sea, trailing off to leave a dramatic and eerie effect. It worked; both of their eyes widened.

Emerging from a thick, white mist was a ship. A _ghost_ ship.

**Eh, finally got around to updating. This chapter was **_**supposed**_** to be posted two days ago, but I got distracted. I had to study for 3 quizzes. After that, I couldn't think of what to put in the third scene, and therefore procrastinated until today, where I decided to go with Puff's idea.**

**Apologies to all who were expecting this chapter earlier, and enjoy daily updates. With school and everything, I'm probably not going to be able to update every day. Still, keep watching for the next installment.**

**The new arc starts now, and I'll be sticking with the same characters for a while. It's supposed to be really long, with lots of characters. I really don't know what'll happen next, so I'm still open for suggestions and requests and guesses. Oh, yeah. Constructive criticism, anyone?**

**I'll be changing chapter titles, too, whenever I come up with something cooler.**

**I forget what else I was supposed to say, so on to the poll. What do you think this story will end like?**

**Credits**

**Kane- KK the Prophet**

**Mycroft- Maecenas (the sinister forces are the main bad guys, and probably won't be defeated for a while. A long while. I'll be using more of the old characters, now, and not all the new characters are evil!)**

**Hyun- Insan**

**Xavier- LastPrelude (Xavier now has his own adventure story. Go check it out)**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Zailia- JellyBrain **


	27. An Endless Hall

**Disclaimer- Who here will sue me if I don't put one up? –edges away- I don't own anything!**

Lindsay and Quinn stared. Where was this place?

Beyond the fake brick wall, there was a long narrow corridor, unlike any they had ever seen before. The walls were steel and cold, dust layering the stone floor. Zubat could be seen watching from the darkest corners, and the occasional Golbat and Crobat. Rattata scurried along the walls, disappearing through the faintest cracks along the stone tiles.

"What the..." Quinn murmured incredulously. The hallway seemed to extend past the end of the world and beyond. There was no exit in sight.

Lindsay wordlessly began walking forward. Quinn couldn't see it, but he could feel the willpower radiating from her. Then he sighed.

Where had Xavier gone off to? Surely he couldn't have traveled through this entire hallway in that short amount of time!

He raced forward, Lindsay's determination rubbing off on him, "Come on! We'll never catch up to him if we walk!"

The girl blinked, then broke out into a smile.

Running took up most of her concentrations, but Lindsay was still bothered by something. Hadn't the passed this place a little while ago?

However, when she voiced this opinion to Quinn, he rolled his eyes.

"How do you tell? The entire wall looks the same!"

As much as she hated to admit it, he had a very good point.

At some point, after she had passed the point where she lost track of time, Lindsay began to tire. She began to feel the effects of running that adrenaline hid, and her legs grew heavier.

When had they first entered this maze? Surely it had only been 30 minutes ago...Or perhaps an hour or two. A day? A month? It had been so long, she couldn't remember.

Beside her, Quinn felt similarly. Why had they even come? To rescue someone?

His mind was fuzzy now, unable to recall enough memories to come up with an answer. He faintly noticed himself slowing down considerably, but paid no mind to it. He didn't stop when he saw Lindsay falter and trip, or when he realized that she never got up.

Quinn kept losing speed, but never halting his charge. Instead, he kept going and going, until it was his own face that hit the tiles. Life resumed in the corridor, unaware of the two bodies lying unconscious on the floor.

XXX

"Umph!" Xavier's cry was muffled by a hand as the pulled him through the wall. Wait a minute...through the _wall?_

He felt slightly light-headed. A fourteen year old boy could only take so much. In the past 3 seconds, he had gone through 2 walls, and been kidnapped.

"Mph! Ergha, mpphhhh!" he tried to scream, panicking and wide-eyed, until he heard a female voice hiss into his ear.

"Shut _up_ already! Do you want to get caught?"

Xavier froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a girl with light red hair. She wore it in a ponytail, and had yellow-brownish eyes. She looked a bit older than him.

There was another girl that kept him from squirming too much, or making too much noise.

Faintly, he heard footsteps, sounding like the padding of a Luxray stalking toward its prey, right before the leap. His heart raced until the sounds faded away into the distance.

After a stunned silence, and only after Xavier was sure the person was gone for good, he wrenched himself away from the girl behind him and whirled around to face them.

The girl was blonde, with a surprised look on her face at his sudden action. She had pretty chocolate-colored eyes and a pink headband with a large bow on it. Beside her stood a girl of roughly the same age. She had a defiant expression and wore a black T-shirt with a picture of a flame on it.

"Who're you?" he managed.

"Not important," the red-head waved a hand, dismissing the question. She turned to the blonde, "What do you think of this? There's some commotion down at the beach. Supposedly some legendary causing havoc."

The girl blinked, turning a bit pale and facing away from Xavier. Though he couldn't see, Xavier imagined her looking thoughtful.

"I'll bet someone agitated it," the girl's tone was far from the innocent one Xavier had imagined. It sounded almost...angry.

"We've wasted enough time here, Jojo," the redhead came to a conclusion, "We need to head out."

"But, Cinder," the blonde, Jojo, whined, "What'll we do about this _kid_?"

She pointed at Xavier.

"I am not a 'kid!'" Xavier fumed.

"Maybe we could lead him to his friends. They will have a bit of trouble," Cinder suggested.

It was Xavier's turn to stare, "How would you know that? How do you know they're even here?"

"Kid, no one doesn't have trouble in this place," Jojo laughed, before turning serious, "No, Cinder, that won't work. We don't even know if they're smart enough to proceed or strong enough to survive."

"Admit it, Jojo," Cinder rolled her eyes, "They're around our age. If they weren't strong, why would they even be here?"

Xavier sighed in frustration. He was sick of not being able to do anything. He began to walk away, but realized something.

"Er, where are we?"

XXX

"Why are we doing this?" Nicholas muttered, before yelping in pain as Zailia grinded her heel on his toe.

"Shut up," she hissed, "Or we'll be caught."

Lark sighed, though she was wondering the same thing. She had to admit, ghost ships were cool. But they were considerably less cool when you were the one exploring it.

The trio was on the mysterious ship. It had docked by the Lilycove lighthouse, and just...sat there. Nothing exited it, or entered it, so of course, Zailia got the brilliant idea to explore it.

When Lark and Nicholas had protested, weakly, Zailia had called them cowards, asking if they were scared.

Lark and Nicholas had agreed to go with her rather quickly, after that.

A board creaked slightly as Lark put her toe on it, and she jumped, looking around wildly. Relieved when nothing seemed to be disturbed, Lark looked back at her companions to see them investigating an old box.

The box was basically a wooden crate, worn down from years of lack of care, and water. CAUTION was printed in red, on the side, and in all capital letters. It was kind of obvious that the instructions had been ignored, but the way the crate looked as if it had been dropped in any random place.

Nicholas, in a burst of courage, reached out to tap it. His fist rapped against the slightly soggy case once, and it shuddered.

But nothing happened.

Lark, deeming the box safe, or at least not very dangerous, walked forward to open it.

"Lark, you don't know-" Nicholas began, but Zailia cut him off.

"Be careful."

The dark haired girl shot him a silencing glance when Nicholas started to protest, and he shut up.

Cautiously, Lark approached the crate. It didn't acknowledge her presence, and sat quite still. Lark reached out to remove the lid, her arms shaking. Taking the cover in her hands, she lifted it off of the box and brought it toward the ground.

It fell apart. The box collapsed without the lid to hold it together, revealing nothing. The crate had been empty.

"What the..." Nicholas muttered, rubbing his temples. Why was everything so confusing lately?

Zailia kicked the remains away in frustration, and a flash of white caught her eye. Something was carved on to the ship's floor.

Lark flinched as she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. The shadows seemed to be swirling. Things were stepping out of the darkness. It looked as if they were surrounded.

"Zailia," Nicholas hissed, "Watch your back."

The girl froze. She had spotted them too.

"What are they?"

One crept out into view. Large fangs protruded from its white jaws, and its back was made solely of hard, smooth bone.

"I think," Lark began in a hushed and disbelieving whisper, "They are skeletons."

**The skeletons aren't only that of humans. Dogs, cats, wolves; anything that has life.**

**So, I managed to get this chapter out. :D**

**Suggestions are still up. Anything I could do to improve this fic? Send it to me. Also, I'm also accepting requests. Who do I need to use more? What do you want to see? Battles? Anything you want to happen? An idea for an arc? Special chapter?**

**Oh, yeah. What do you think will happen? Doesn't matter if your theory is with the whole plot, or just this arc. I love to know what you guys think!**

**Btw, I love all you reviewers...I need to dedicate a special chapter for you all.**

**Poll- What would be the worst thing that could happen in this fic?**

**Credits**

**Lindsay- Somepersonoutthere**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Cinder- Megalink1126**

**Jojo- Flaaffy**

**Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**


	28. Lilycove SPECIAL: Festival

**Disclaimer- The pile of things that I don't own has risen. Hm, now it's Pokemon, most of the OCs, and this whole special idea. This chapter was inspired by Maecenas's idea, so go congratulate him! (Or at least, I think he's a him.) Another warning. This chapter is a weird special, so the plot has kind of stopped.**

**Well, this is the beginning of my Big Special Series. :D; Pointless things where you get to learn more about the characters, and might be important to the plot, if I so choose. I aim to use all 42 (I think) OCs by the time I'm done, so don't panic if I don't use yours in this one.**

"_What_ did you just say?" Nikki asked, in the most pleasant way she could. Still, the sandy-haired reporter in front of her cowered away.

"Er, the tournament judges feel like today should be a day off for trainers?" Matt whimpered, "And there is going to be a festival instead for today?"

Nikki took a deep breath. Don't lose your calm, she told herself.

"And why?"

"You need to relax. Pokemon isn't only about battling," Matt said uncertainly.

Nikki snapped, "I know that! It's just this is the middle of a tournament! It's a horrible idea! I'm going to complain to the judges!"

She was about to storm off, but Matt grabbed her shoulder, "No, you don't. This is a wonderful opportunity to go make friends."

He pointed to a random girl to his left, "See? She looks nice. Go introduce yourself."

"Um," Nikki stared at him disbelievingly, "No, she doesn't."

Zailia Kage shot an icy glare at the reporter, who instantly dropped his hand. This time, he looked carefully before pointing, "What about those two?"

Nikki looked over at the two girls. One had light brown hair to her elbows in a ponytail. The other had short brown hair with red and black streaks. She recognized the two girls as Sulphur Blackmoor, one of the girls who had disappeared for two weeks and caused an uproar, and Katey O'Reily, the girl who almost destroyed Lilycove not once, not twice, but _three_ times.

"Are you _blind_, reporter?"

Matt shrugged, "Go on."

Muttering something about certain reporters and pointy sharp objects, Nikki stalked up to the pair.

Katey and Sulphur had been very innocently arguing about which city was better, Celadon or Hearthome, when Nikki brought down her wrath on them.

"No way! Celadon is _so _much better! It's so big and busy!" Sulph said fiercely.

"But you have never even been to Hearthome! We have huge skyscrapers and even a Contest Hall! It's even better than Lilycove's," Katey shouted.

"So? That's nothing compared to Celadon's--!" Sulphur's comeback was interrupted by a stony voice.

"Hello."

Both girls froze, and turned around hesitantly. They saw a girl with straight black hair ending at her shoulders, and blue eyes. She was staring intently at them.

"Er, hi?" Sulph stammered, a bit intimidated by the older girl, "I'm...Sulphur?"

"Hi, I'm Katey!" Katey recovered quickly, jumping up and sticking a hand out to greet her.

"Nikki," Nikki said, stepping back from the suddenly hyper girl unconsciously, "Don't get me wrong. I'm only here because that _idiot_," she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at the grinning reporter, "made me."

Sulph nodded in slight understanding. He did seem a bit...stupid.

"Nice to meet you," Katey chirped cheerfully. She was about to pull the other two girls into a giant group hug when a loud voice called from behind them.

"Why, hello there, ladies!" the voice called, nearly deafening Nikki who was unfortunate enough to be standing right in front of the man, "Welcome to the Festival! We have lots of games, and even more excellent prizes. How would you like a go?"

A large man stood behind a booth. Behind him, there stood a plastic Grumpig. The man grinned hugely as the girls peered into his stand curiously.

"Would you like to try? See if you can 'catch' the Grumpig!" he said enthusiastically, holding out a Pokeball to Nikki. He obviously didn't think they were trainers, or he would never have offered it to them.

Nikki took the Pokeball, and turned it around in her hand. It was so obviously a fake.

"So I just hit the Grumpig, eh?"

"Yes, but one twist. The Grumpig moves!" the man exclaimed proudly, pressing a button on the Grumpig. With a snort and a twist, the purple Pokemon jumped on to its tail, albeit a bit stiffly, and began to bounce around at an unbelievable pace.

Nikki almost laughed out loud; this would be too easy.

"Ashes, let's have some fun."

The Charizard appeared in the booth, and with a powerful Iron Tail, had imbedded the Grumpig 3 feet into the wall. Nikki easily hit the Pokemon with the ball she had been given. Putting on her sweetest smile, she turned to the stunned man, "Did I hear you say excellent prizes?"

XXX

Zailia shook her head, wondering why she attracted all kinds of odd attention. First that boy and girl—Nicholas and Lark, was it?—and now the sandy-haired guy.

She sighed, before continuing her stroll around Lilycove.

It was a pretty nice day; the wind blew gently across the grass, creating ripples that weaved its way all through the fields. The sun shone, lighting the morning sky a bright hue. The leaves rustled slightly, giving Zailia a sense of serenity.

Which, of course, could only be interrupted.

The tree above her gave an intimidating shudder, before stilling.

One, two, three; the seconds ticked by in Zailia's mind as the girl stood frozen beneath onf of its leafy branch.

_Boom_.

The tree, an old maple, erupted into flames as several explosions sounded, sending sparks flying through the air. Several bystanders screamed, before scrambling to get their children away from the flaming tree.

Two girls leapt down from its smoking branches, slightly scorched.

"You might want to put that out," the redhead suggested nonchalantly, gesturing slightly to the tree.

"I might," the blonde agreed, though she showed no interest in actually doing so. The two continued to watch the fire blaze high into the air, eagerly licking at other trees.

The redhead sighed, "You might also want to do it yourself, as my Pokemon would only make things worse."

The blonde nodded slightly, tapping a Pokeball once. A Slowking materialized beside her.

"See if you can extinguish that, Zero," she said.

The Slowking seemed to nod, and his eyes glowed an unnatural blue. The flames flickered, struggling to overcome the Psychic attack, but shrunk down into the ground, before finally dissolving.

Zailia struggled to keep her jaw from dropping. She had never seen a Psychic attack used that way. But, she concluded, it was less messy than dousing the flames with a water attack. The Slowking, like all of his species, was amazingly intelligent.

"Hm? Jojo," the redhead murmured to her partner, turning to face Zailia, "It seems we have a visitor."

"That we do, Cinder," Jojo grinned widely, "What're you doing here?"

Zailia gaped openly, speechless for a moment, before recovering, "I was on a walk before I was interrupted by you and your fire."

Jojo pouted and adopted an innocent tone, "It wasn't my fault that the fireworks set the tree on fire."

"Yes, it was," Cinder muttered.

"No, it wasn't. How would I know that trees were flammable?" Jojo shot back.

"Every sane 15 year old knows that trees are flammable," Cinder yelled, raising her voice considerably.

Not wanting to be outdone, Jojo began shouting too, "Then how did you know, huh?"

Zailia groaned, feeling another headache coming on. Why was it always her that attracted the odd ones, that couldn't be within each other's company for over 10 minutes without beginning a fight?

As the two continued to bicker, Zailia turned around, deciding to simply walk away.

XXX

"Take a deep breath, and relax," the fortune teller advised, closing her eyes.

Rini sat on a pillow cushion in front of the old woman. She exhaled, letting a peaceful feeling overcome her mind as she cleared it.

The crystal ball began to fog, and Rini could make out faint shapes moving around. Behind her, Alivia let out an impatient sound, before loudly declaring, "Can we go now? I don't have time to waste with an old hag!"

"Patience, child," the teller said calmly, "All will be revealed soon."

Alivia began to retort, but Rini held up a hand, "Alivia."

Alivia bit her lip, but refrained from snapping back. Arguing with people higher than her in rank would get her nowhere.

"_I see it_," the teller mumbled in a demonic tone that startled both girls. It had deepened, and gained a scratchy yet wise edge. Her new voice gave Alivia chills, but Rini seemed only slightly fazed.

"_Your future. Two paths. Both are complex. One will lead to devastation, but victory. The other is lighter, and leads to success only through failing_."

Alivia felt lightheaded. _What_ had she just said?

Rini frowned, before nodding, "Thank you."

The 12 year old girl placed a pile of money on the table, and stood up, gesturing for Alivia to follow. They hadn't gone far before they were stopped. As soon as Alivia and Rini left the busier streets, another girl dropped down in front of them.

"Hahaha!" the brown haired girl laughed victoriously, even though she hadn't won anything, "I have caught you evil villains!"

Alivia and Rini exchanged extremely confused looks, "Er, what? Who are you?"

"I am the awesome Hyun Suns, worst nightmare of all criminals like you!" the girl shouted, her fake dog's tail wagging slightly, "I'm here to put you in a life time of prison for not using honest methods!"

Rini froze, fear etched on to every detail of her face. Luckily for her reputation, Alivia was also too distracted by worry to see.

"Pokemon thieves like you should be punished!" Hyun exclaimed.

Alivia almost sighed in relief, though managed to restrain herself. Rini seemed to be more in control, but allowed herself to relax more. They hadn't blown their cover.

With an even tone, she put on a motherly tone, a hard task for a 12 year old, "What are you talking about? Are you lost, little girl?"

Rini reached out to grab Hyun's hand, but the girl pulled away—just the reaction Rini had been hoping for.

"I'm not little!" Hyun shouted, stepping back from the two girls, "I'm ten years old, and perfectly skilled!"

"Aren't you the cutest little thing?"

"Um, bye!" Hyun stammered, running out of Rini's grasp and out of sight. When she was gone, Rini turned to eye her comrade.

"Not a word," she murmured.

**Ah, shoot. I so meant for this to have 4 scenes, but I got stuck here. I'm cutting it off, but stay tuned for the next one~ (don't know when that'll be up)**

**Let's see. Who do I have to apologize to...**

**Mewk- Yeah, I know that I said I'd try and proceed with the plot. I couldn't help myself. It was a special.**

**Maecenas- For twisting your awesome idea so much. Like I told you before (that is, if you bothered to read my PM), I thought it was a lot easier for the characters to interact with a festival than with while watching a battle.**

**Dejavu- For twisting Katey so much that it makes some readers dislike her. She's actually a lovely character to work with~**

**And my notes:**

**Again, Dejavu- If you read Flaaffy's review, then I'll have you know that she **_**does**_** tell me that Katey is awesome. (I'm not too bothered with it, though, her scenes were fun to write). By all means, continue to write your story. You're writing it because of Katey and yourself, not because of your readers (although a bit of reviews makes your day, sometimes. ^_^)**

**KK the Prophet- Not to sound snobby, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my review system to yell at other people. If you must get protective, then by all means, do. Just please get an account and settle it somewhere else. By the way, if you don't like the way Katey acted, it's not Katey's fault. It's not like she doesn't care about the innocent people, but more of the way she's blind to most others when she's angry. And then it's also the way I wrote her.**

**My reviewers- I love you all, and this series was dedicated to all of you guys!**

**Lastly, anyone who bothered to read this far into my Author's note- I'm perfectly aware that you guys are out for my blood for leaving you hanging and freezing the plot. (Not to mention last chapter's cliffies) I'll try and get the real next chapter up soon, and hope you continue to follow this fic.**

**If anyone hasn't noticed, I'm currently trying to increase my chapter length, since I'm not updating as often. However, I'll also have to get use to the change, so it'll probably be gradual.**

**Last chapter's poll, mostly everyone voted that the worst thing that'll happen would be a character death, or not finishing this fic. Well, I certainly don't want that to happen either (though we'll have to see about the character death...)!**

**Um, what else?**

**This idea was basically a twisted version of Maecenas (who actually got an account and is starting his own tourney fic whenever he can)'s idea. If you have any other ideas for these specials, feel free to tell me.**

**I had originally intended to include all the OCs in one chapter, but I didn't want anyone to be flooded by the sudden rise in OCs that are used at a time, and also the very long chapter it would create.**

**Suggestions, requests, and all that stuff is still up, so tell me if there is anything I can work on to improve this fic. One of these days, I'll start re-writing the beginning again. I don't really like it, if I look back now.**

**Poll- If there was one thing that you'd like to see in this fic before it ends, what would it be?**

**Happy Labor Day (that's the reason for the special, btw) to everyone who actually has Labor Day, and if you don't, it's a random special for no reason! I've yet to meet someone who didn't like free good things for no reason.**

**And so concludes my extremely long Author's note. Kudos to all who actually read through it. Virtual cookies for you. :D**

**Credits**

**Nikki- Fire Drastar**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Sulphur- Wisshy**

**Katey- dejavu**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Jojo- Flaaffy**

**Cinder- Megalink1126**

**Rini- Lightning-Alchemist-Rini**

**Alivia- Faint Reminiscence**

**Hyun- Insan**


	29. Dark of Revenge

**Disclaimer- Insert disclaimer here. (Disclaimer- I don't own the previous disclaimer either. I saw it somewhere.)**

"Are you crazy?" Mycroft yelled, diving out of the way as another Aero Blast was shot in his direction. He landed rather ungracefully in the sand, messing up another perfectly good suit. Slightly grumbling, Mycroft dusted himself off.

Not that he was complaining that much. After all, this had been one of the most thrilling battles that he'd had in a long while. It wasn't every day that one could have a battle with an enraged legendary Pokemon, he thought proudly.

His good mood didn't last quite as long as he would've preferred, as the Lugia dodged yet another attack, and knocked out his Whiscash.

"You know what," he cried, caught up in the heat of the battle, "Go, Magellan!"

His Walrein landed in the ocean and immediately dove under. The Lugia noticed its new opponent and dove in after.

"No! Wait up, evil beast! I shall punish you for your doings an-!" Hyun began to scream, but Kane cut her off.

"If you must scream, please do it more than a foot away from me," the dark-haired boy said, closing his eyes as his head pounded from the high-pitched shriek.

Hyun grinned sheepishly, "Oh. Sorry. I got a bit carried away."

The Walrein shot a Blizzard attack at Lugia, whose own attack, Hydro Pump, froze in the icy gales.

Just as Mycroft began to smirk, Lugia blasted another Aero Blast attack, breaking the frozen water of its previous move, and sending billions of ice shards flying towards Magellan. The sharpness of the attack managed to pierce through even the Walrein's blubber, and Magellan called out to his trainer in pain.

"Magellan!" Mycroft shouted, slightly surprised. Then again, what else could he have expected from the legendary Pokemon that stood—or rather, flew—in front of him?

"It's my turn, Mycroft," Kane yelled, "Go, Magnezone!"

The metal Pokemon shot out bolts of stray electricity at the Lugia. The bird nipped at the few that neared it, but otherwise was wary of the Magnezone.

"Alright, Discharge!"

The magnet Pokemon let out a low groan, before unleashing a powerful wave. Lugia roared in pain, as the electricity rippled through its body, but managed to regain control. It inhaled deeply, before blowing out an enormous blast of cold water. Its Hydro Pump attacked soaked the Magnezone, seeping through the tiny cracks of the Pokemon's steel coat.

Kane winced as his Pokemon faltered, only staying in the air through sheer force. It wouldn't take much to finish it.

"Hurry, Magnezone! Use Gyro Ball," Kane commanded.

A gray ball of swirling power collided with the Lugia's breast; a second one was mercilessly cut down by a barrage of stars from the Pokemon's mouth. The first hit only seemed to anger the Lugia further, and it dove forward with Sky Attack.

"Stop it," Kane cried out in a quick burst of panic, "Let's go with a Zap Cannon! Full Power!"

The Magnezone wobbled uncontrollably as it mustered up the strength to create a ball of condensed electricity. Mycroft and Hyun could actually see the sparks of lightning that bounced around in the tiny space, fighting for dominance and freedom.

Lugia collided with the Magnezone far before the Zap Cannon was shot, but the smallest feather of its wing cut through the attack in the collision.

The explosion shook the ground of the entire region, sending various tsunamis crashing against the shores of the land.

XXX

"Who're you?" Demetri asked quietly. He had blue eyes, though that was all that was visible of his face. A black mask covered the top half, and everything below was hidden by the large collar of his red overcoat. His blonde hair was combed neatly.

He stared at the other boy, who stood facing in the other direction.

"What does it matter?" the darker haired boy tossed carelessly over his shoulder, "Nothing matters to you, after all."

"What do you know?" the blonde demanded, grabbing the trainer's shoulder and whipping him around to face him, "Who the hell do you think you are, speaking like tha-?!"

His exclamation abruptly stopped, as the dark-haired boy gazed upon him with icy gray eyes. His eyes were unnerving, and powerful, holding a deep, yet dark, wisdom in them. His voice was steady, even though the tone was spiteful and harsh, "Don't speak to me like that. If you think you are more important, more worthy, than prove it."

The retort was quiet, silent almost, yet every word echoed through the dark, stormy night.

Demetri wasn't entirely sure what scared him most, the boy in front of him, or the fact that he was even frightened. Heck, the kid was about 8 years younger than him!

"What's your name?" he could barely keep his voice from quivering.

"That is not important. What matters currently is only you. Who are _you?_ That's what you should ask yourself," the trainer smirked, ominously. He seemed to look deeper into the blonde's eyes, piercing the very soul of—

No, Demetri shook his head; he wouldn't let himself be controlled.

"Who do you think do you think you are? I'm older than you! I've been through more than you can even imagine! How old are you?" he got louder with every word, feeling more confident. He could win, he had been through more. Humans were evil, particularly this one in front of him.

Demetri was beginning to feel powerful, above this..._child_, and started to speak again, to bring him down, but he was beaten to it.

"How...old am I?" the trainer blinked, as if surprised by this question, though the emotion only flickered briefly upon his face before it was replaced by the usual mask of ice, "I don't really remember, and I don't really care. As for who I am, I don't think that matters either."

"You. I'll show you who's strongest. Go, Tyranitar!"

Bored, the trainer waved at something behind him, and a dark hound flew out of its hiding spot and tackled the Tyranitar.

Demetri stepped back, startled. Was that a...Houndour? How could a mere Houndour take on a purebred Tyranitar? He looked at the younger trainer in slight admiration—an emotion that he had not felt in 8 years.

"If it is revenge you want," the trainer continued, "Join me. I can give you that opportunity."

The shadows closed in, as the two stared into each other's unforgiving eyes, enveloping them into its unwelcoming embrace.

And one word hung in the air, dragging down their hearts into the deepest pits of darkness.

_Revenge._

XXX

A boy and two girls sat in a triangle.

Cinder and Jojo stared ominously at Xavier, and he shrunk back. Darkness outlined their thoughtful faces, and the boy couldn't help but wonder what was going on in their heads.

"Ask away," Jojo said in a voice that sounded almost amused. Could he really ask anything?

"Who are you?" Xavier's own voice sounded much more defiant than he felt. An empty feeling gnawed at his racing heart, and sweat dripped down the back of his neck and dampened his t-shirt.

Both girls blinked, before Jojo drew back and let out a loud sound—was that laughter?

"We forgot to introduce ourselves!" she exclaimed, hitting herself on the forehead, "Whatever. My name's Jojo!"

Cinder rolled her eyes, "Cinder."

"I'm Xavier, but that's not what I'm asking. I kinda overheard your names already when you guys were talking. I meant," Xavier let out an exasperate sigh, wondering how to say this, "Who _are_ you guys? As in, what are you doing here, why, and why the heck am _I_ here?"

Cinder nodded a bit, thoughtfully, and Jojo made a small noise that sounded someone like, "Ohhhh."

Then they looked at each other uncomfortably. Jojo opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it as Cinder elbowed her, and shut it almost as quickly.

Finally, Cinder spoke, "I can't tell you much, but we're basically here to make sure this tournament ends safely."

"What about whatever is going to happen up at the beach?" Xavier asked, "Something big was there. I saw it!"

"We have accomplices headed there right now."

Xavier began to pry, but decided to ask a more important question, "Where is this?"

"This is a secret hideout belonging to," Cinder shot Jojo a warning glance, but the blonde continued, "an enemy of ours. It's basically a powerful illusion. It's an image of a hallway, that goes on and on forever, and the longer you stay in it, the more energy it can suck from you. Right now, this is a safe zone that Zero is holding up."

She gestured to a faint figure behind her, which Xavier managed to identify, with much difficulty, as a Slowking.

"Are you going to help my friends?"

"That's the plan, squirt," Cinder gave him a broad grin, and Xavier grimaced.

"I am not a squirt! I'm 14!"

"A year's difference. Therefore, we're your elders. Respect us," Jojo smirked, before popping her head out of the safe zone.

"Coast is clear. The mission may proceed as planned."

Xavier shivered at her tone, which contained a mixture of authority and confidence. Something told him, pulled at him, telling him to hurry. Or something bad would happen. It was the gloomy sense of premonition.

XXX

"Higher, Skarmory!" A white-haired girl cried, urging the metal bird upward to avoid a collision with another huge wave.

The Skarmory managed to pull himself up, saving himself and the two trainers on his back from being dragged into the deep, murky waters below. Around them, waves crashed against the empty shores, wiping out anything that stood in their way.

"Where is it, Rayne?" the other girl whispered in a hushed voice, brimming with caution. She had sleek black hair, and eyes a dark brown hue.

Her companion, the owner of the Skarmory, looked around steadily. Her long white hair had been whipped around by the harsh gales.

She pointed to a small figure in the distance. No, there were _two_ figures, she noted.

"Lugia," she replied automatically. There was no mistake. That figure, that power, it all made sense.

"Lugia," the black haired girl repeated, "Now. Why is Lugia there?"

"Do you suppose...maybe..." the sentence died, leaving the two girls in silence.

An explosion nearly knocked them both into the ocean, but a mere twist in the Skarmory's positioning saved them. The steel bird shrieked as a blast of hot air knocked him backwards, and suddenly the waves rose, agitated by the disturbance.

Skarmory could only pull himself upward to save them once again, and was given no time to recover as an even larger wave followed after.

"What was that?" Rayne yelled, gripping on to the Skarmory's neck.

"An explosion, it seems like."

"Skarmory. See if you can get closer."

Rayne turned to the girl behind her, "Surely you have a flying type. Must you ride on Skarmory?"

"I'd ride on Flygon, but he's weak against water," she snapped back.

Rayne bit back a retort. Of all the other people, she had to be paired with this girl. Rayne respected her elders very much and all their decisions, but this was too much.

"Fine then, _Melissa_. I'll land, and we'll fight back on foot," she muttered.

Skarmory flew towards the shore, slightly descending as they neared the beach. Melissa remained silent, gazing at the now closer figure of Lugia. This would definitely be an interesting battle.

**And it's finally up. This would've been up yesterday, but I got my internet privileges taken away. So you're getting the next chapter today.**

**Even more characters in this chapter. Darker, more evil scenes. And still more cliffhangers. Don't you love me?**

**I'm trying to revise certain chapters, and things like that, so I don't know when the next one will be up. I will tell you, though, to expect a Special up on the 22****nd****. Guess why?**

**I don't know how long this fic will be up. Recently, I got a warning that such fics violated certain rules, blah blah. Which is the reason I'm editing. If this story EVER is deleted (I'm never going to, though I can't speak for the admins), I should put details up on my profile for ways to continue reading it. I do have back-up plans. :D**

**Anyone who wishes to contact me may do so in PMs or 031ap's forum, Pokemon Tournament Stories. There is a thread there featuring the Lilycove Tournament (it's quite obvious which one it is) and you may post there. I'm on most of the time, if I'm not at school, and should reply quickly.**

**And again, for certain rules, I won't be able to post questions anymore. I will, however, be able to post questions on the above mentioned forum, so anyone is welcome there.**

**Credits**

**Mycroft- Maecenas**

**Kane- KK the Prophet**

**Hyun- Insan**

**Demetri- The Triumvirate of Rei**

**Unnamed- Ano-chan**

**Cinder- Megalink1126**

**Jojo- Flaaffy**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Melissa- Stabberz**

**Rayne- not hopeless anymore**


	30. Legendary Retreat

**Disclaimer- Read last chapter's.**

Lark felt her jaw drop as the bones at her feet wiggled back together again. She had just ordered her Raticate to Hyper Fang it, and the skeleton had fallen apart quite easily. Now, the bones were edging back towards each other, and reassembling itself.

"They don't die!" Lark muttered incredulously, fear shaking her voice. Pretty soon, the wolf stood glaring at her once again, "Raticate, Charge Beam, now!"

Her voice sounded shrill even to herself.

The beam of electricity hit spot on; the skeleton didn't even bother to dodge. And sure enough, it didn't stay down, pulling its body together with ease.

"Don't try and knock it down," Zailia called from behind her, where her Absol sliced right through the bones with Razor Wind, "Break the bones so it can't get up again."

"Crunch, then!" Lark cried, modifying her strategy to fit Zailia's instructions. The Raticate clamped his teeth against the bones of the wolf and pushed down with all his might. A sickening crunching sound made a satisfied feeling rise up in Lark's chest, and she called out another Pokemon.

"Sharpedo, Rock Tomb!"

Boulders fell on to the ship, crushing their victims and splintering the already soggy ground. Boards of rotting wood cracked upward, and slowly, the skeleton's numbers diminished.

"Hey, Lark, Zailia?" Nicholas began, "Is it me, or do they seem to be...I don't know, a bit surrounded by evil?"

"No, _duh_," Zailia retorted, "You think?"

But Lark grabbed her arm and pointed to a nearby bird skeleton.

"I think he's got a point. If you look really—and I mean, really—closely, you can see it."

Faintly rising from the outer layer of bone was a thin wisp of smoke, or at least, that's what it looked like. A dark wisp flowing out from the skeletons, wilting the wood they stood on, and intensifying the atmosphere. It weighed down on all three of their shoulders, causing sweat to drip from their brows, and making it harder to breathe.

And by sheer force of intimidation, Lark, Zailia, and Nicholas all stepped backwards...on to the weird symbol behind them.

With a flash, everything else went black.

XXX

Xavier was beginning to see what Jojo had meant. His breath was short and ragged, and he had only been walking for about 20 minutes. Beside him, Jojo bounced along with Cinder, not even seeming fazed. They had decided to go at an even pace.

"No use in tiring yourself out when you aren't going to get anywhere either way," Cinder had said.

Xavier had protested then, and was now beginning to understand the redhead's words. He thanked his lucky stars that they hadn't run, like he'd suggested. It had seemed like a good idea before. Not so much anymore.

"Shouldn't we have, like, passed them already?" Jojo complained again.

"Maybe," Cinder sighed, rubbing her temples in exasperation, "It's an illusion. We may have passed them ten minutes ago and we'll never know it. The only way is to keep going on until we can see them."

Xavier's head was beginning to hurt. For some reason, he kept seeing floating purple things out of the corner of his eyes, but when he turned, nothing was there. He was sure that there was something there!

For the sixtieth time, at least, he looked over his shoulder to make sure, and promptly tripped.

"What the..." he muttered, rubbing his head, and looking to see what he had fallen over, "Um, guys?"

Cinder and Jojo turned around, slightly annoyed.

"Don't linger long or you'll collapse," Cinder snapped, "What is it?"

"There's nothing there," Xavier said.

They looked at him oddly, "You stopped us—risked us our lives—just to tell us that we're alone? Are you _insane?_"

Xavier protested, "I tripped!"

"So you tripped over your own feet. So what?"

"No! Watch!" Xavier kicked a bit at the air behind him, and felt his foot connect with something. That relief told him that he wasn't crazy, but it was short-lived. Something warm, in other words, alive, grabbed his ankle.

Xavier froze, staring at his foot in horror.

"What is it now, runt?" Cinder sighed. Jojo looked skeptically at him.

"My...foot," Xavier squeaked, and whatever was holding him twitched.

Zero the Slowking walked forward, obviously taking his precious time, and raised his pink arms in concentration. Slowly, in front of him, a small circle grew until it covered all three of them, and the area surrounding them.

"Nice, Zero," Jojo grinned, "It's, like, another safe zone!"

And then the smile dropped right off her face as she looked at the ground in front of her.

XXX

"What is this?"

Demetri stood on the roof of the Lilycove Department store, peering down at the chaos on the beach. Behind him was the other boy, silently watching him.

"The legendary, Lugia."

Demetri turned to look at the boy, "And why should I do this?"

The boy could have smirked, but he turned his attention away to his right, and Demetri couldn't see his expression. His tone, however, hid much, but Demetri thought that he could hear a slight edge of amusement. Anger flared in his heart.

"Because, I can help you. You want revenge?" he paused, "I can get you that. But you have to help me first."

Demetri hesitated. He didn't want to help this trainer. He knew that the boy was probably as selfish and evil as the rest of the humans, but...

He wanted revenge. He _needed_ it. It was his purpose, it was what he _lived_ for.

But why? Why help him? His ambitions are evil. They will probably bring only more death, and destruction, and pain.

Demetri decided he didn't care. Why worry? All that mattered now was that revenge, that revenge that was so, so close, he could almost taste it.

And that was what he focused on as he replied, and the boy left. Now, Demetri was alone on that rooftop, the cold breeze rushing through his hair, and only his thought for company.

It was time.

"Gardevoir, Psychic!" Demetri threw a Pokeball into the air, before jumping over the fence preventing people from falling off the building.

The attack carried him back down to the ground safely, and began to move him towards the beach.

"Find the Lugia's lair," the trainer had commanded—no, _asked_—him. Demetri figured the best way to do so was to scare the legend away.

Meaning a battle.

He was beginning to see the destruction Lugia had caused. Pieces of jagged metal, that used to be a bleacher, jutted out from under the wet sand. The waves roared, and the sky rumbled. It seemed as if the entire universe had been thrown out of order and balance, which was to be expected, of course.

He could faintly make out a boy in green, and another, older though. There was a girl next to the older one, while the other tried his hand in battling Lugia. As far as Demetri could tell, he wasn't having much luck.

"Gyarados."

The serpent Pokemon dove into the raging ocean, before peeking about the wild waters to stare at his trainer.

"Defeat the Lugia."

The order was simple, and Gyarados swam away to follow them. Easier said, than done.

"Ice Fang!"

Gyarados jumped into the air, in between the sparking Magnezone and the angry Lugia. He tried to clamp his teeth on Lugia's wing, but the bird evaded him by flying upward, towards the sky, and launching an Aero Blast.

The blue serpent roared in fury and agony as he collided with the shore, sending clouds of sand flying up.

"Gyarados, get up. Waterfall."

A column of water collapsed on Lugia, urging it to descend a bit, and causing Magnezone to tumble down to the ocean, defeated.

"Magnezone!" the green one cried out, returning the fallen Pokemon to its Pokeball. Demetri ignored the stares he was attracting.

"Ice Fang," he repeated.

Again, the Gyarados dove for Lugia, but a strong Hydro Pump blasted the water Pokemon back again.

Gyarados growled in humiliation. This wasn't going the way it was supposed to. He was supposed to have won easily, scared the Lugia away, and...

A huge wave rose up and crashed over the piece of land that all of them stood on, leaving them wet.

"Y-you guys look like drowned rats!" the girl laughed, pointing at her fellow male companions.

"Shut up, Hyun," the man in a suit snapped, looking down at his clothes, "I'm all wet now!"

"Yes, Mycroft," Hyun said in the honey-coated voice one used when they were explaining something obvious, "When a wave hits you, you get wet."

"Not what I meant!"

The green one sighed, but he turned his attention to Demetri.

"What are you doing here?"

Demetri ignored him too, focusing only on Lugia. The legendary bird had turned around, and was flying away.

Had he done his job correctly? Yes, he had. He could get his revenge now.

Demetri turned to walk away, and find the trainer, but not before the green guy stopped him.

"Who are you?" his voice was serious, like an echo in a dark, lonely cave. The cave of Demetri's empty heart.

Demetri let out a cold laugh, "Nobody important. You could say I'm under someone else's command, but I'm the one pulling his strings. He just doesn't know yet."

The boy in green felt his jaw tense, and clenched his fist, but Mycroft put a hand on his shoulder, "No, Kane. Just let it go."

And the tree of them watched as Demetri made his way back to the city of Lilycove, unaware of an almost sinister presence watching them, hidden.

XXX

Melissa and Rayne froze as they watched Lugia's retreating figure.

"It just...left?" Rayne muttered in disbelief.

Some snake thing had risen up and gotten defeated, but the Lugia had still gone away.

"Maybe it didn't have anything left to do," Melissa commented dully, "Either way, we need to go report to the leaders, else they'll skin us alive."

Rayne nodded, but shot the trainers on the beach one last glance before following her partner.

Why did Lugia just leave?

**Finally...out...**

**So the Lugia thing has settled down, Xavier, Cinder, and Jojo get freaked out, and we don't even know what happened to Lark, Nicholas, and Zailia. I feel so accomplished. :D**

**So, I think this is Chapter 30, and we aren't even half done yet...I need to follow the advice about getting the plot moving, don't I?**

**Requests are still up, by the way. If you want to see anything (within reason, of course), then send it in.**

**And I've posted a contest on my profile. There are prizes, listed there, along with further details.**

**I think that's it from me, so see you again around the 22****nd****!**

**Credits**

**Lark- Serpent's Ballet**

**Zailia- JellyBrain**

**Nicholas- Some Random Weird Guy**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Jojo- Flaaffy**

**Cinder- Megalink1126**

**Demetri- The Triumvirate of Rei**

**Unnamed- Ano-chan**

**Kane- KK the Prophet**

**Mycroft- Maecenas**

**Hyun- Insan**

**Melissa- Stabberz**

**Rayne- not hopeless anymore**


	31. Lilycove SPECIAL A Normal Day

**Disclaimer- I own everything! (Minus the everything part)**

Riley sighed, staring at the bright blue sky. He stared wistfully at the clouds that drifted slowly away.

How did he get himself into this?

It had been a normal day in Lilycove.

He remembered sitting at a table in the Lilycove Coffee Shop, looking out the window to observe the daily lives of the people.

Outside, the Lilycove children played tag, hide-and-seek, and other small games. The adults were working, whether with construction, technology, or just cleaning. The air was light and innocent, the smell of life fresh in the air.

It was, Riley concluded, a normal day in Lilycove.

Then, a loud explosion sounded, and the ground shook. He jumped, dropping his cup in the process and splashing coffee all over the ground, himself, and the waitress. She gave him a glare, before trying to wipe the drink off of her uniform.

"Stupid people who only care about attention," she muttered loudly, storming off to get a broom.

Riley stared after her, slightly confused, and then sighed. Then he looked around to make sure no one was watching and slipped out the door. The waitress would have to clean up the cup herself.

He ran down the street and looked around. By now, the area had emptied, leaving an empty road, slightly littered.

A bit of smoke could be seen rising from the middle of the town, and Riley dashed off towards it.

But not before turning a corner and plowing over someone.

"Ack!" he tumbled forward, slamming into a girl with black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a marine blue T-shirt and white shorts.

"Oh, whoops," Riley mumbled, flushing red, "My bad! Sorry!"

The girl laughed, "No, it's fine. My name's Hailey."

"Riley."

"Are you headed to the circus, too?" she asked, still giggling. Riley blinked.

"Uh, circus?"

Hailey nodded vigorously, "You haven't heard of the Fade Brothers?"

Riley shook his head slowly.

"Well, they're called 'Brothers' but there are some girls in there too. The Fade Brothers is a circus caravan that travels around the world. They have very famous acts, and they only come to Lilycove once every decade," Hailey told him, "I'm not from Lilycove, though, but I've haven't seen them yet."

"Then how do you know that they're here? Did someone tell you?"

"No. Well, sorta," Hailey laughed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "My brother said that they always start their performances with an explosion."

Riley digested that information. So then, the reason everyone left was to go watch them? That explained the lack of commotion.

A second explosion made Riley jump, but Hailey seemed undisturbed. In fact, her brown eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement, and she grabbed his arm.

"Ah! It's really starting! Let's go!"

The Fade Brothers were performing in the city square, and a huge crowd had already formed, everyone craning their necks to see better.

"Welcome to the Fade Brothers' Circus!" a man in a white, no-sleeved shirt and messy brown hair yelled, waving to the crowd while juggling flaming knives. He entered on a unicycle, which he pedaled with one foot and balancing 3 plates on his free leg, one on top of the other.

On the other side of the platform, his twin entered also. In a black shirt, he cart-wheeled in on one hand, sprung up, and landed in the middle of the stage.

"Welcome, one and all! Are you ready?"

The crowd roared in response, and Riley winced.

The circus had included about everything you ever imagined, and everything you didn't. Flying Rapidashes, contortionists, Oddishes that 'turn' into Primeapes. There was disappearing fireworks, and dancing Ursurings; Luxrays that could jump through flaming rings, and marvelous ice sculptures made in 30 seconds. Riley was amazed at how the acts flowed smoothly.

But now, Riley could only gape slightly, as the man in white, identified as the ringmaster Gordon Fade, beckoned for him to join the acrobats on the stage. People from the audience tried to catch a glimpse of his face, and he was thankful that most of them didn't. He was sure it was flaming red.

"Come on, don't be shy," Gordon was saying, "Do you want to be my helper for this trick?"

Riley shook his head, or at least, that's what he wanted to do. That's what he was going to do, if Gordon had given him the time of day.

"Come on up, kid."

Riley opened his mouth to protest, but then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was a little boy, poor and dressed in rags, but the boy looked up at Riley with such tremendous admiration, like he was an angel descending from the heavens in clean robes and a golden halo...

"Alright," Riley found himself saying.

Nonononono, his common sense screamed internally, but like most people, Riley ignored it.

"Now, lay down right here," Gordon patted the wooden bed gently, like one would a coffin, "Nice and easy."

You can still turn back! Yes, turning back is a _brilliant_ idea!

Riley rested his head on the edge of the bed, his head, and heart, pounding.

"What's your name?"

"Riley."

The crowd applauded, but silenced as Gordon raised his hand.

"Now, Riley here," he began, smiling faintly, "will be assisting me in the typical trick of cutting a human body in half.'"

Riley froze, as his consciousness swore inside of him. His name in the same sentence as 'cutting' and 'body' was never a good thing. And then a wooden frame was locked on top of him, to keep him from moving, and Riley panicked, as would any other sane being in his position.

He was about to be cut in half by a random acrobat he had just found out about. Wasn't that just every kid's dream?

A suspenseful silence fell on the crowd as a tall, lean Scyther emerged, which didn't help Riley's nerves at all. He squirmed, ready to dash for it if he could just manage to reach his Pokeballs...

No such luck. He was stuck, until Gordon said otherwise. The acrobat twirled the keys in his fingers lazily, and Riley bit his lip as he restrained from snatching them. That wouldn't be good for his public image, would it?

Then, the Scyther raised a single bladed arm that glinted in the sunlight, displaying the razor sharp edges that had been polished before the act. It stretched a bit further, and then in a sudden movement, it was over.

XXX

Riley sighed in utter relief as the wooden frame was lifted from his chest. He squirmed a bit, making sure he was all intact again. The crowd gaped for a second, before applauding.

Gordon smiled his weird and scary acrobat smile, and bowed, bringing his hand up and pushing on Riley's back to make him bend over also. Then, the boy was free to go without having to worry about being cut to pieces.

But, it wasn't to last. The same little boy popped out from seemingly nowhere, and began to walk alongside him, using quick, rapid steps to keep up with Riley's long strides. Riley noticed a dull knife in his hands.

"Mister, are you magical?"

The question was sudden, and surprised Riley.

"If I," the boy continued, "If I cut your arm off, would it re-grow?"

He raised his knife-arm to show Riley what he meant, only to find out that Riley had run away at the mere mention of the word 'cut'.

Blinking a bit, the boy ran after him, completely unaware of the reason _why_ Riley had fled.

Yes, it was just a normal day in Lilycove.

**Hm, short, and very few OCs, but it's only a filler. Full length scenes, and more OCs in the real chapters ahead, so no worries. :D**

**Eheh, I know that this was supposed to be up on the 22****nd****, so sorry for those of you who were looking forward to it. And it was short, too.**

**Reasons for this chapter being late-**

**-I don't have a lot of free time.**

**-I overestimated my ability, and underestimated the homework-giving ability of my teachers.**

**-I was busy plotting another story, details (though not much) on my profile.**

**Oh, yeah. For those few of you who wondered why the 22****nd**** was anything special, (No, I did not pick a random day), it was my birthday! So, yeah. It was supposed to be a birthday special, but I guess not.**

**And Maecenas pointed out that I now (as I write this) have 493 reviews...the exact number of Pokemon there are! I never would have realized that...Thanks for all you peoples' support and reviews; you guys are what keep this story running. I promise, at the end of this I'll put up a thank you, listing every single one of you who have reviewed.**

**Anyways, if I had anything else to say, I've forgotten it, so I'll just tell you that I hoped you enjoyed this, and to wait for the next installmant~**

**Credits**

**Riley- Mewk**

**Hailey- StripedBluePolo**


	32. Manipulation

**Disclaimer- Owns nothing, save the plot, the tournament, and a handful of OCs.**

Koden blinked, ignoring the dull pain that throbbed in her forehead. She wasn't on the beach anymore; that was all she was certain of.

Sitting up, she opened her blue eyes to face an annoyed looking Espeon. The purple cat blinked once, before tilting her head towards the doorway and walking out. Koden blinked. Was the Espeon telling her to follow?

Curiously, she began to, before freezing.

If she was no longer on the beach, it might've meant that someone had carried her. And if someone had discovered _it_, she would have a lot of explaining to do. A lot of explaining that would have certain people pissed, which would lead to even more explaining. Koden did not like explaining, preferring more mysterious means.

She felt around her kimono, searching, and sighed in relief. Her hand touched a certain yellow envelope, still unopened. Her secret was safe for now.

Koden crept out of the room, and followed the hallway. Voices were coming from one of the rooms, and she placed her hand on the doorknob. Something stopped her from interrupting, though.

"—spies."

"Huh?!"

Koden could hear the hushed whispers through the door.

"I'm...one of you...enemy...can't trust..." She couldn't identify who was speaking. It was a male's voice, but it certainly wasn't her battle partner's. Could it be someone else? They weren't alone here?

"Espee!" The purple Espeon mewed loudly, and the voices halted suddenly. The door creaked open, and a girl peered out. Long brown hair and brown eyes, it was definitely one of Koden's opponents. Alessandra Cesarini, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Ah, Koden? There's nobody else with you, right?" Her voice was slightly muffled. Koden shook her head, and slipped through the crack in the doorway Alex had given her.

Inside was even darker than the hallway, and a slight chill ran up Koden's spine.

Eric and Sa'Kore turned to face her, and the man they had been looking at shot a careless glance across the room and landed on her face. She leaned back a bit, her mouth falling a bit.

"You're awake." A blunt statement. She nodded wordlessly.

The man was partially hidden from the darkness, but he had dark brown hair and calculating gray eyes. He was tall, and wore a thick brown trench coat.

Koden cried out in recognition, "Ah! You're the one who—!"

"Ordered for Lilycove to be hypnotized, I know," Eric interrupted bitterly.

The man smiled faintly, "I can't say I didn't. But that is not the problem at hand. Right now, Lilycove is in a state of ruin. As good trainers, I trust you would want to save it?"

Eric snorted, "Don't say that you need us to fight whatever it is off. Aren't _you _the villain?"

A muscle near the man's mouth twitched, "You could say that. No, I want you to fight the people against me, to save Lilycove."

Alex was bewildered, "There are others?"

The man laughed, "Of course not. I'm just saying that I might have to destroy Lilycove if you don't."

Koden bit her lip. Letting him destroy Lilycove would get her in trouble for sure. But working for him would result in severe consequences too.

"Where...are we?" she decided to ask, her voice shook a bit more than she wanted when she tested the words out. The others winced, like they had already asked and didn't like the answer.

"Why don't I show you?" The man turned to his left, and shoved a bookshelf out of the way, revealing a rather menacing looking pathway. He shoved away the curtains that hid the contents of the hall, and gestured for the four to enter.

Koden was the brave one who walked in first. The light flickered on at her first step, and she saw...things she couldn't repeat.

Tanks. Rows and rows of them, lined up neatly in alphabetical order, Koden saw in disgust. They all held clones, and mutations. Koden glimpsed at the last row. Shriveled, blackened, and rotted bodies floated in the thick liquid filling the tank. Failed experiments, read the plaque.

Alex shrank back, fearful and completely disturbed, but Sa'Kore walked on, unfocused with her head held high. Eric almost gagged as he wandered too close to one of the tanks. A horrible stench radiated from them.

"Please don't touch or disturb the test subjects. They react violently," the man stated dully, acting as if he'd recited this many times over.

"Pokemon aren't test subjects!" Alex cried out.

The man didn't look back, but walked behind Sa'Kore to the back of the lab, "Perhaps they aren't to you, but some people have a goal in life. A goal that cannot be met without necessary sacrifices. Yes, those Pokemon can live their life knowing that they were important to the rise of a new world."

"That's sick and wrong," Eric snarled. The man waved an uncaring hand.

"Believe what you must."

A window shattered as something collided with it, tearing open the dark red curtains and sending sharp shards of broken glass sprawling across the room. A dark bird figure darted through the newly made hole in the window, screeching to a halt in front of Sa'Kore.

"Ah, perfect timing. This is but one of my masterpieces. Meet Lugia. Another clone, but it has gained 2.5 times more power! The true Lugia is only a shadow of this magnificence!" the man shouted over the roar of the clone's entrance.

"He's demented," Sa'Kore whispered to the Lugia, ruffling the clone's feathers, "I'm sorry you had to be born in such a way. But you're okay, right?"

The Lugia made a muffled, screeching sound of approval, allowing the ex-actress to pet it.

"Why are you showing us this?" Eric demanded, "Are you trying to scare us into submission? It won't work! This is disgusting!"

The man flashed him a grin that would put a Gengar to shame, "Of course not, what makes you ask that? You will do what I ask though, won't you?"

"Of course not!" Eric shouted angrily.

"So you'll watch as all those innocents die, for your own selfishness. A shame..."

"No!" Alex said fiercely, "Fine, we'll do it!"

Eric and Koden stared at her incredulously, but the man didn't even try to hide his knowing smile. Sa'Kore paid no attention to them.

"What?" Alex snapped at them, "I won't let them die!"

XXX

"Quinn? Are you okay?" Xavier asked, poking his friend with a shoe.

"Argmphhhh," came the irritated reply.

"He's alive and well," Xavier remarked, stepping over Quinn's body, "Now where's Linds--?"

Quinn grabbed on to the boy's leg, tripping him and causing him to fall over and land on his face.

"Owwie, my face!" Xavier groaned. Jojo giggled, and even Cinder had trouble muffling a snort.

With a grunt, Quinn pushed himself up, feeling a flood over energy rushing over him, "Huh? Lindsay? Where—Oh, there you are, Xavier. Where's am I? There was a hallway and..."

He looked around, seeing no hallway at all, "...and...and...um, there's no hallway."

"Of course not," Cinder said, "It's an illusion. That drains your energy. You're lucky your friend found you, or else you would've been dead meat. Tyranitar grub."

Quinn sweatdropped, "I get it. Where's Lindsay?"

They looked at Zero, who stared back questioningly. Jojo sighed. "Can you please find Lindsay?"

The Slowking nodded, and closed his eyes. Slowly, the rocky ground expanded as more of the illusion was cancelled out. Zero broke out in a sweat as he struggled to keep the safe zone up and cover more land.

To his relief, Xavier cried out, "Look! Lindsay!"

A feminine hand was sticking into the safe zone. A Rattata scurried across it, and the hand twitched.

Xavier hurried over, and dragged the hand back to the group. Instead of the familiar face they had been expecting, however, they were greeted by...something repulsive.

The girl's face had been completely distorted; it was unrecognizable.

"Oh!" Cinder gasped, wincing.

"It's not Lindsay, at least," Quinn commented weakly. That body's too old to be Lindsay.

The body's mouth—or at least, what the thought was the mouth—twitched, and creaked open. A Raticate squeezed out, and the group shot backwards in horror.

"That," Jojo said finally, "did not happen."

Xavier shivered as Zero used Psychic to move the body away. Then, he turned back to the original task of looking for Lindsay.

The safe zone borders inched away from them in a horribly slow way. Quinn and Xavier glared impatiently at the line that separated reality from illusion.

Then, Cinder hissed at Jojo, "Call off the safe zone! Someone's coming, and we don't want them to know we can do this!"

She didn't have time to finish the sentence when Jojo caught on and returned Zero. The ground disappeared, and the hallway replaced it. A heavy atmosphere settled back on their shoulders.

"What are you kids doing in here?" A sharp voice demanded from behind them, "How did you get here?"

They turned to see a man wearing a red overcoat. All they could see was his blonde hair and blue eyes. The rest of his body was covered.

"What's it to you?" Cinder answered without missing a beat, "I doubt you're of any ranking to reprimand us."

"I don't need a ranking. I'm Demetri," the man replied harshly, "You're just a bunch of ignorant kids. You don't know what it's like to have your life crushed."

"I think, like, you're the ignorant one," Jojo shot back, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder angrily.

"Ignorant?" Demetri murmured, reaching behind him. With one hand, he pulled a girl out from behind him, "At least I know how to get what I want."

"Lindsay!" Xavier and Quinn cried out simultaneously.

Xavier snarled, "That was low! Taking a 13-year old hostage is evil!"

The man laughed heartlessly, "It depends on your definition of 'low.' Wouldn't letting a murderer get off without a punishment just because of lack of evidence be considered 'low' too?"

"I don't know what you're, like, talking about," Jojo said coldly.

"Are you trying to start an argument with me?" Cinder growled, slapping her hand against the metal wall and producing an ear-splitting cracking sound.

"I could care less about what you think I'm trying to do," Demetri told her, with equal hatred in his voice, "_Little girl._"

Jojo winced and immediately stepped back, gesturing for Xavier and Quinn to stay clear of the angry Cinder.

"I'm mad now," Cinder spat, "I'm going to show you your place, lowlife."

Demetri reacted by reaching down for a Pokeball, allowing Lindsay to yank herself out of his grip and scurry over to Jojo. He paid no attention to his loss of a prisoner.

"Bring it, wimp!" Cinder cried, throwing a Pokeball into the air and unleashing a Typlosion. The fire Pokemon roared menacingly, clawing into the air and flaring the flames on his neck.

On the opposing side, a Blaziken appeared, glowering at the echidna. To show his strength, the chicken Pokemon kicked into the air and fire exploded as the Blaziken drew back.

The fire Pokemon roared in turns, trying to intimidate the other.

"Come on, Flame Wheel! Terrorize them!" Cinder commanded.

"Sky Uppercut and Brave Bird!"

In a great inferno, the Typhlosion roared a last time and dove into a wheel formation, spinning and leaving charred and melting tiles in his wake. A sharp fist met with the flames of the attack, sending the echidna up into the air. Then, Blaziken crashed headfirst into the Flame Wheel, knocking both competitors backwards.

"We don't have time for this," Lindsay tried to say, but the collisions muffled her voice. And Jojo's cheering.

"C'mon, Cinder! Roast his sorry hide!" the blonde was saying.

The Typlosion shot a barrage of stars at his opponent, who retaliated with a Blaze Kick. The flaming stars were discarded towards the wall, leaving even more destruction and remains of battle.

Suddenly, a Metagross flew in from the darkness behind them, and froze the battle with a wide Psychic attack. They froze, looking for the intruder.

Who else was here?

**Will...post chapter...today...**

**Whoo-hoo! I'm finally done! Sorry for the long wait. I could NOT figure out how to write this...and then I started feeling guilty and I had to write this for you guys. **

**Other news includes the beginning of reconstruction! The edited beginning chapters should be up soon after I post this, so some of you might want to check that out. It's about the first three chapters or so.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you won't hesitate to tell me what I could improve on, or what you thought about it. Feedback is appreciated greatly.**

**As for contest results, the winner is...**

**Jigglypuff's Pillow's quote!**

"**We could all take a lesson from crayons: some are sharp, some are beautiful, some have weird names, all are different colors, but they still learn to live in the same box."**

**Thanks to everyone who entered, and good luck next time!**

**Credits**

**Koden- KK the Prophet**

**Alex- Legendary Fairy**

**Eric- BlueStripedPolo**

**Sa'Kore- Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**Quinn- SilentV0ices**

**Xavier- LastPrelude**

**Jojo- Flaaffy**

**Cinder- Megalink1126**

**Demetri- The Triumvirate of Rei**


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